PAS 2025 – Safran and MBDA detail Thundart, their proposal for the French Army FLP-T programme
At Eurosatory 2024 some information were provided by MBDA, although the real green light to the project was given in October 2024, when MBDA and SED officially joined forces for the development of the new multiple rocket launcher and firstly its munition.
The FLP-T programme aims to field a tactical effector, with a 150 km range, which is financed within the French Military Programming Act 2024-2030 (LPM 2024-2030), and an effector at operational level, with a 500 km range, which is not part of that document, and should therefore be present in the next five-year plan.
The two companies started operating in October 2024, MBDA bringing its expertise in propulsion, through Roxel, which became an MBDA company following the acquisition of Safran shares in December 2024, and warheads, while SED is responsible for guidance.
The French Army requirement calls for a national solution at reasonable cost, which will allow saturation fire missions. To do so the guidance system is an adaptation of that of the ASSM Hammer, the kit developed by SED to be installed on Mk82 and Mk84 dumb aerial bombs. The guidance element is available in three different models, INS/GPS, INS/GPS IR, and INS/GPS Laser; for the Thundart the INS/GPS is the one that is being adapted to the new rocket, although at Eurosatory EDR On-Line was told that the addition of a seeker might be considered as part of a further development roadmap. This considerably reduces risks and non-recurrent costs. According to SED results obtained by AASM in operational theatres have shown metric accuracy even with intensive jamming along most of the trajectory.
Although reusing some former developments, both the engine and warhead will be new. Roxel is working on a wholly new thruster; however, in the past years the company manufactured solid-propellant rocket motors for European GMLRS, the Guided MLRS version in use with the MLRS and HIMARS systems. This gives the MBDA subsidiary the know-how and experience to develop the new motor for the longer-range rocket. As for the warhead, here too MBDA will leverage developments done in the past years, for example MBDA proposed a new warhead for the GMLRS that didn’t went into production. No details were provided, as the issue is still open, several options being on the table.
This will be frozen in October 2025, when the current development phase will end. The initial design phase includes all elements, platform, launcher, canister, effector, and support. EDR On-Line understood that the system platform will be an 8×8 high mobility truck; according to information obtained at Eurosatory the launcher should host up to six canisters, one truck carrying to launchers for a total of 12 Thundart rockets, the equivalent of an MLRS and twice that of a HIMARS. Among requirements we find air mobility on board an A400M Atlas transport aircraft.
The next phase of the programme will bring to a prototype, which first firings should take place in April 2026, definitely a tight scheduling. At this point the French Army will select the preferred bidder; EDR On-Line understands that two other competitors are working on the FLP-T programme, Turgis and Gaillard, which unveiled its Foudre MRL at Le Bourget, and Thales with ArianeGroup, Thales not providing details on its solution for the time being.
Deliveries should start in early 2030, EDR On-Line understanding that a first batch of 13 systems should be made available within that same year, the actual Army requirement being for 26 systems.
https://www.edrmagazine.eu/pas-2025-saf ... -programme
PAS 2025 – Foudre: France’s New Power in Modular Rocket Launchers for Tomorrow’s Europe
https://www.edrmagazine.eu/pas-2025-fou ... ows-europe
https://fr.linkedin.com/posts/turgis-ga ... 81344-jdLD
