France to Test Thundart Rocket Launcher to Rival U.S. HIMARS in 2026 Demonstrations.

MBDA and Safran announced Thundart, a French guided long-range rocket slated for demonstration firings in mid-2026 as part of the FLP-T program, with an initial 150-kilometer range and ATLAS fire-control integration. This program aims to replace aging Lance-Roquette Unitaire launchers.

MBDA announced on October 23, 2025, that the French Thundart long-range rocket artillery system will conduct demonstration firings in mid-2026, marking a decisive step in Paris’s drive to replace its aging Lance-Roquette Unitaire launchers and reclaim deep-fires sovereignty. The program is a joint effort by MBDA and Safran Electronics & Defense under the Long-Range Land Strike initiative, with a guided rocket designed for a 150-kilometer reach, integration into the Army’s ATLAS fire control network, and full ITAR-free control of upgrades and production. First shown at Eurosatory 2024, Thundart is pitched as a high-intensity, truck-mobile solution that France can industrialize at scale before the decade’s end.
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France’s Thundart launcher, shown here in concept form, mirrors the U.S. HIMARS in range and mobility but stands apart through its fully French design, ITAR-free technology, and integration within national command networks for sovereign long-range precision strikes (Picture source: MBDA / Army Recognition Group).

Thundart’s design couples Safran’s guidance heritage, derived from the AASM Hammer family, with MBDA propulsion and warhead work honed on European deep-strike programs. The architecture favors autonomy, road mobility, and rapid emplacement, with digital connectivity for sensor-to-shooter tasking. Early industry messaging points to a 227 mm-class rocket with backward compatibility to France’s LRU fleet, providing a practical bridge for live-fire trials while a wheeled, podded launcher matures from concept into production.

The system is meant to interdict logistics nodes, command posts, and air-defense radars at depth while remaining survivable under persistent ISR. Precision trajectories, short time from call for fire to first round out, and disciplined shoot-and-scoot drills allow batteries to mass effects, execute counter-battery missions, and prosecute mobile targets when paired with suitable terminal guidance. In cost and tempo, it fills the gap between tube artillery and long-range cruise or ballistic missiles, matching the consumption rates of high-intensity campaigns.

Set against the U.S. Army’s combat-proven HIMARS, Thundart reads as a sovereign answer that aims for range parity while trading breadth of munitions for national control. HIMARS already fields a mature six-round pod for GMLRS, fires ER GMLRS to roughly 150 kilometers, and can employ ATACMS today and PrSM as it enters service, pushing toward 500 kilometers on a platform sustained at a global scale. Thundart’s first increment pursues the same 150-kilometer class with a guided rocket and leverages existing French launch infrastructure, with a wheeled launcher in development to follow. In the near term, Paris gains precision deep fires without foreign release constraints and with native digital integration; HIMARS retains advantages in missile diversity, logistics, and hard combat pedigree.

Within the Long-Range Land Strike (FLP-T) program, a national effort initiated by the DGA in 2023, Thundart anchors the initial increment while a follow-on objective explores longer ranges around the 500-kilometer tier. The current military programming law funds industrial ramp-up and the rebuild of a battalion-level rocket artillery force, with a competitive pathway that includes demonstration firings from rival national teams before down-select.

The war in Ukraine has re-validated the value of precision deep fires, while Europe’s supply chains and export rules highlight the penalty of dependence. France’s nine remaining LRUs face retirement as early as 2027, and foreign buys such as HIMARS or PULS come with delivery bottlenecks and policy strings. A domestic, ITAR-free rocket gives Paris freedom to arm partners, surge production, and tailor effects for NATO or coalitions from the Baltics to the Mediterranean. In a Baltic-Black Sea scenario, Thundart would help France contribute immediate interdiction capacity to a corps-level fight; in the Mediterranean and Atlantic, future seeker upgrades could extend the system’s utility to coastal denial and port protection. That blend of sovereignty, compatibility, and growth potential is why French officials describe Thundart as a strategic choice.