France has selected the THUNDART system from MBDA and Safran Electronics & Defense to provide the French Army with a new sovereign long-range land strike capability and replace the existing Unitary Rocket Launcher, according to the companies.
The French Defence Procurement Agency, the DGA, has notified the programme following an initial development phase which included a successful demonstration firing in April 2026. THUNDART is intended to provide precision strike at long range in high-intensity and heavily contested environments, with the system designed, developed and produced in France.
MBDA and Safran say the programme is also intended to give the French Armed Forces full autonomy of use by 2030, reducing reliance on foreign-controlled technologies for a capability regarded as increasingly important in European land warfare. The two companies will establish a 50/50 joint venture in the Paris region to take the programme forward. It will oversee development, production and in-service support, as well as future upgrades and potential adaptation of the system for other environments and export customers.
Safran’s contribution includes navigation and optronics technology intended to allow the weapon to retain accuracy where access to satellite navigation is disrupted or denied.
Alexandre Ziegler, Head of the Defense Global Business Unit at Safran Electronics & Defense, said: “This selection reflects the complementarity of our expertise with MBDA. Faced with the critical challenges of interference and denial of access to GNSS signals, Safran Electronics & Defense provides its proven leadership in inertial navigation and optronics technologies to ensure accuracy in all circumstances.”
He added: “I would like to thank the DGA for their renewed confidence. THUNDART will provide our armed forces with a decisive and sovereign tactical advantage.”
The programme is intended to replace France’s LRU, or Lance-Roquettes Unitaire, as the Army moves to restore and expand its ability to conduct tactical deep strikes from land.
MBDA said the project would draw on mature subsystems while industrial preparations were already being put in place ahead of production.
Stéphane Reb, Executive Vice President Programmes and Managing Director of MBDA France, said: “The notification of the THUNDART programme marks a decisive step for French sovereignty in terms of long-range land strikes.”
He added: “By leveraging mature subsystems and an industrial ramp-up that is already underway, we are able to respond with agility to the Army’s most specific needs. The close partnership with Safran Electronics & Defense, embodied in the creation of a joint venture, allows us to mobilise all the skills of our teams and our production capabilities to deliver a complete solution within optimised deadlines.”
The country is bust so how they will fund this is beyond me….
Because they have a procurement system that actually works. No massive delays or cost overruns. They have 4600 people working in procurement we have 12500. We have a bigger budget yet somehow get less kit, cannot afford to send troops on exercise and our helicopter fleets are being decimated
2021 the french paid 7.9 billion pounds for 169 H160 helicopters. We are paying £44 million per helo for the AW 149. If only someone in the MOD understood economies of scale.
We have cut our chinook fleet by 25%.
As of today the french have a combined total of 430 helicopters on their books
We have 249 no counting the ones soon to be scrapped.
The french will and can afford it because they have a government that supports their military base and runs procurement well
WE DO NOT
You aren’t wrong, but that doesn’t mean Jonty is wrong either. France is running a >5% deficit which is forecast to keep growing, doubly so if either Melenchon or Le Pen get into the Elysee. Couple that with a measly 0.5% growth for the year and bond managers around the world are looking at France as the next Greece. They could teach even us a thing or two about bankruptcy and political paralysis. The long and the short of it is they are living far beyond their means
But what about our gold plated pensions for the Civil Serpents!!!
Well said.
“The programme is intended to replace France’s LRU, or Lance-Roquettes Unitaire” = MLRS
Hi Alex, When France joined the M270 programme it initially acquired 57 vehicles. The LRU is a modernized variant of the M270. However, only 13 vehicles were rebuilt to this standard, the other 44 base M270s were withdrawn from service. apparently only 9 LRUs remain in service with the 1st Artillery Regiment (Fr. 1er régiment d’artillerie). 4 LRUs have been donated to Ukraine. The remaining French LRUs are to be withdrawn from service by the end of 2027. It’s currently one area where the UK actually has more rocket based artillery than France.
Not a lot of specific details on the Thundart’s rockets have been released, especially their size, though Ariane also helped to develop the rocket. With a range of 150km, this is substantial further than MLRS can lob a standard rocket (not counting ATACMS or PRSM), which is generally below 100km. However, GMLRS-ER which is in development by MBDA UK, is looking to reach 150km. This is possibly a Brimstone or Spear-3 front end married to a rocket, that’s compatible with the M270 launcher. From what I understand it can still be packed in a six round launcher pack as used by MLRS and HIMARS. Which like France would give the UK a sovereign (non-ITAR) rocket for MLRS.