PARIS — France has entered into “exclusive” negotiations with MBDA and Safran for the procurement of a long-range artillery system to replace the country’s aging fleet of Lance Roquettes Unitaire (LRUs), Minister of the Armed Forces Minister Catherine Vautrin announced today.
“We need to cooperate further, pool our investments and harmonize our needs. … We need to bet on Europe,” Vautrin said in her opening speech for Eurosatory, one of the biggest defense expositions in Europe.
Launched in 2023, the much-sought-after program aims to select a replacement for France’s nearly obsolete LRUs, set to be retired as early as 2027.
The offer put forward by the two European companies focuses on the French-made Thundart artillery system, which, according to the manufacturers, has a range of 150 km (93 miles) that can extend beyond 1,000 km (621 miles) with the integration of the Land Cruise Missile. It can also travel at high supersonic speeds.
MBDA and Safran conducted the first live-fire testing on April 14. An MBDA spokesperson confirmed to Breaking Defense that deliveries of the missiles could come as early as 2029 as part of the Frappe Longue Portée – Terre (FLP-T) program.
Such an official announcement effectively puts other companies, including Lockheed Martin, out of the running. Lockheed had offered an 18-month delivery time if Paris opted for the US-made HIMARS artillery system. The American proposal envisioned transferring a significant portion of the launchers to Paris in 2028 to prevent it from facing a capability gap.
In a statement, Lockheed said, “We respect the French government’s procurement decisions and remain confident in the performance, reliability and operational value of our combat-proven HIMARS.”
Military experts have previously told Breaking Defense that delivery times are likely to be an issue for Paris with the selection of a sovereign capability. Léo Péria-Peigné, head of the defense research unit at IFRI, noted that the MBDA-Thales offering is not yet in production, which risks creating “a problematic capability gap in long-range fires for France.”
UPDATED 6/15/2026 at 10:50am ET to include a comment from Lockheed Martin.