IRIFI drone: French startup shows GPS-free autonomous strike drone

French startup Harmattan AI has unveiled IRIFI, an autonomous, expendable long-range strike drone. According to its creators, it can hit a target up to 2,000 kilometres away without using satellite navigation or help from an operator during the flight.

How the system works

The drones are launched from a mobile unit that carries them in shipping containers, so a large number of aircraft can be deployed quickly. The manufacturer says that after launch IRIFI flies the entire mission on its own: it has its own navigation system that does not depend on GPS or other satellite signals, and on the final approach it does not rely on camera guidance.

As a result, the company claims, the drone can fly at very low altitude to evade radar and still hit its target with an accuracy of a few meters. Commanders choose targets in advance and set the mission parameters, and the aircraft then acts independently. A single commander, aided by an artificial intelligence system that processes large volumes of satellite imagery, can launch dozens of strikes.

Between the Shahed and the Tomahawk

A drone of this class is intended for strikes deep behind enemy lines — on command posts, depots, factories and airfields. According to Mouad M’Ghari, the company’s CEO and co-founder, the Iranian Shahed is cheap and easy to produce, but inaccurate and easy to shoot down, while Tomahawk or Storm Shadow missiles are extremely sophisticated, but expensive and made in small numbers. In his view, AI-based autonomy makes it possible to combine the strengths of both approaches.

The design is meant for conditions in which the enemy jams and spoofs navigation signals: in current and recent conflicts this has noticeably reduced the reliability of satellite navigation and long-range radio control. Harmattan AI wants to make possible mass attacks that traditional missiles cannot match, leaving expensive munitions for the most important targets.

The company has not yet disclosed the drone’s speed, warhead, price, stage of development or potential customers. It was founded in Paris in 2024 and works closely with Dassault Aviation, maker of the Rafale fighter: the two firms have agreed to jointly develop AI and autonomous systems for Dassault’s future combat aircraft.

Around Prague, based on reporting by osel.cz