France evaluates India’s Pinaka long-range rocket system amid artillery gap.

Indian Army chief Pierre Schill has indicated strong interest in India’s ­Pinaka multi‑barrel rocket launcher program, prompting France to openly explore the platform after long observing its performance. This turn could shift Franco-Indian defence ties, diversify European artillery supply chains and boost India’s standing as an arms exporter.

The Economic Times reporting on October 14, 2025, that Army chief General Pierre Schill is “keen” on India’s long-range weapons has pushed France’s quiet interest in the Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launcher into the open. His New Delhi remarks, echoed by Indian and French outlets in recent days, confirm that Paris is actively evaluating Indian guided rockets, loitering munitions, and counter-drone kits after observing recent operational performance. Earlier in the year, Reuters described talks at Aero India about Pinaka procurement, a rare reversal of France’s traditional role as exporter. The question for Paris is less whether Pinaka works than what it would do for French land forces now, as domestic long-range programs wait for first firings.
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Pinaka is a 214 mm 12-tube truck-mounted MBRL that can fire a full salvo in under a minute; guided INS/GPS rockets reach 60–75 km with multiple warhead options and fast shoot-and-scoot mobility for precision deep fires (Picture source: Indian MoD).

Pinaka is a 214 mm, 12-tube launcher on a high-mobility truck, capable of emptying two six-round pods in roughly 44 seconds. The family has evolved from area-effect rockets with 38 to 45 km reach to enhanced and guided rounds that reliably extend to about 60 to 75 km, with accuracy tightened by inertial and satellite navigation kits. Indian industry and media have also trailed work on extended-range munitions, including 120 km concepts and a notional 300 km missile derivative for the years ahead, underscoring a live production line and a roadmap that continues to stretch the envelope. The launcher’s digital fire control, hydraulic stabilization, and podded reloads support rapid occupation, firing, and displacement, the classic survival cycle against counter-battery radars.

For France, guided Pinaka rockets would slot between CAESAR 155 mm guns and air-launched standoff weapons, restoring a ground-based deep-fires tier lost as legacy LRU systems age out. A battery deployed with precision rockets could reach brigade-level targets beyond gun howitzer range, from command posts and logistics parks to short-range air defense sites and counter-battery radars. The combination of podded logistics and truck mobility favors dispersed basing and frequent moves, complicating enemy sensor-to-shooter loops. In high-tempo operations on NATO’s eastern flank, Pinaka’s rate of fire and reload cadence would let French commanders shape terrain and timing, collapsing bridges or interdiction points at 60 to 75 km while freeing scarce air assets for higher-value missions.

Why would Paris look east when it prizes sovereignty? Timing, scale, and cost discipline are driving the calculus. The French FLP-T demonstration launcher, sometimes portrayed as a homegrown HIMARS alternative, is not expected to fire before mid-2026, with full fielding later. Artillery regiments, meanwhile, face dwindling LRU numbers and obsolescence by 2027. Pinaka is in serial production, combat-validated in Indian service, and exportable with guided effects today. Bridging with an Indian system would buy France near-term mass and reach while giving domestic industry time to mature FLP-T munitions and command-and-fire control. It is not a repudiation of sovereignty, rather a practical hedge that protects combat credibility in the window that matters.

A French order for Pinaka would mark India’s emergence as a supplier of precision land fires to a NATO heavyweight, reinforcing a partnership already anchored by Rafale fighters and submarine cooperation. It would also signal Europe’s shift toward diversified, resilient supply chains after two years of munitions scarcity, with Paris demonstrating that interoperability and readiness can trump industrial orthodoxy when deterrence is at stake. For New Delhi, a marquee European customer would validate Pinaka alongside Western peers, strengthen its case for co-development in guidance, seekers, and warhead effects, and consolidate India’s identity as a net exporter of credible combat power. French officials have telegraphed interest not only in rockets but in loitering munitions and counter-UAS technologies, suggesting a broader, mutually reinforcing agenda.