France's ArianeGroup develops B-Strike 1000 anti-ship ballistic missile with 1,000 km range against moving targets.

French aerospace and defense manufacturer ArianeGroup unveiled the naval B-Strike 1000 anti-ship and land-attack ballistic missile during the Euronaval 2026 exhibition near Paris. Extending the land-based B-Strike family introduced in June 2026, the single-stage, solid-propellant missile measures 7 m in length and 609.6 mm in diameter, carries a maneuverable reentry vehicle (MaRV), and is designed to exceed Mach 10 at altitudes above 120 km over ranges beyond 1,000 km. ArianeGroup illustrated its potential integration aboard the French FDI frigate Amiral Ronarc'h (D660) alongside coastal batteries and hydrofoil unmanned surface vessels, aiming to compress flight times to roughly 10 minutes over 1,000 km.

Presented at Euronaval 2026, the B-Strike 1000 ballistic missile is proposed for FDI frigates, mobile coastal launchers, and hydrofoil unmanned vessels, but has not received a naval procurement contract or entered operational service. (Picture source: ArianeGroup)

Key tactical insights

• Speed & Trajectory: Reaches speeds exceeding Mach 10 and apogees above 120 km (crossing the Kármán line), compressing flight time to approximately 10 minutes over 1,000 km, six to seven times faster than subsonic cruise missiles.

• Four potential deployment configurations: Illustrated aboard the French FDI frigate Amiral Ronarc'h (D660) via either a dedicated eight-cell vertical launch module or a two-missile trainable deck launcher; a single-missile launcher integrated onto the SEAir SP200, a 20 m hydrofoil USV; and a road-mobile coastal battery derived from the X-Fire launcher developed alongside Thales and Soframe.

• Technological Heritage: Draws on propulsion, guidance, and reentry technologies developed through ArianeGroup's M51 submarine-launched ballistic missile program, the V-MAX hypersonic glider demonstrator (2023), and the FLP-T-150 test flight (May 2026).

On November 3, 2026, the French company ArianeGroup unveiled the naval B-Strike 1000 anti-ship ballistic missile at Euronaval 2026 near Paris, extending its land-based B-Strike family to attacks against warships and land targets beyond 1,000 km. The single-stage, solid-propellant short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) measures 7 m in length and 609.6 mm in diameter, carries a maneuverable reentry vehicle (MaRV), and is intended to exceed Mach 10 and reach altitudes above 120 km. Its projected flight time of 10 minutes over 1,000 km is six to seven times shorter than that of a subsonic cruise missile traveling at 900-1,000 km/h, a difference relevant to attacks against mobile targets and installations requiring rapid engagement.

Four launch configurations are envisaged: an eight-cell vertical launch system (VLS), a two-missile orientable launcher mounted on a ship's deck, a mobile coastal battery, and a single-missile launcher mounted on a hydrofoil unmanned surface vessel. Introduced five months after the land-based B-Strike family at Eurosatory 2026 with Thales and Soframe, the B-Strike 1000 remains an industrial proposal without a procurement contract or an approved French Navy integration program. The B-Strike 1000 combines a solid-propellant booster with a separable MaRV capable of correcting its trajectory during atmospheric reentry. Its length of 7 m and diameter of 24 inches (609.6 mm) give a length-to-diameter ratio of 11.48, while the proposed 635 mm launch tube provides only 12.7 mm of nominal radial clearance before accounting for a missile canister and launch equipment.

Related topic: Ukraine's new FP-9 ballistic missile to target Moscow's energy infrastructure by summer 2026

The missile's trajectory exceeds 120 km in altitude, crossing the 100 km Kármán line, while its 1,000 km flight in 600 seconds corresponds to an average horizontal progression of 1,667 m/s. This average differs from the instantaneous Mach 10-plus speed because the missile accelerates during powered ascent and changes velocity during ballistic flight and reentry. The conventional multifunction warhead combines airburst and delayed-detonation modes, allowing the same missile to engage exposed military equipment, installations, and structures requiring penetration before detonation. The intended impact accuracy is below 10 m, although the explosive payload, total launch mass, and terminal maneuvering limits have not been disclosed. 

How the B-Strike 1000 could target moving warships at 1,000 km

The anti-ship version faces a more demanding targeting problem than the land-attack configuration because a vessel's position changes between initial detection and missile arrival. ArianeGroup envisages radio-frequency geolocation satellites, comparable to those operated by French company Unseenlabs, to locate emitting vessels, followed by a terminal seeker aboard the MaRV. At 20, 25, and 30 knots, a ship travels 6.17, 7.72, and 9.26 km during a 10-minute engagement, far exceeding the missile's intended impact error below 10 m.

Even at 30 knots, a vessel moves 926 m per minute, requiring terminal acquisition and trajectory correction rather than reliance on its launch-time coordinates. Consequently, the MaRV's aerodynamic maneuvers would also change its final approach trajectory, complicating interception calculations for shipborne missile defenses. Resistance to GNSS jamming would preserve navigation capability under electronic interference, but accurate engagements would still depend on maritime surveillance, timely target-position information, and successful terminal seeker acquisition. 

How French frigates, unmanned vessels and coastal batteries could launch B-Strike missiles

Interestingly, the frigate used by ArianeGroup to illustrate the naval integration of the B-Strike 1000 is the Amiral Ronarc'h (D660), the first of five French FDI frigates, delivered to the French Navy in October 2025. The FDI measures 121.6 m in length, has a beam of 17.7 m, and displaces 4,500 tonnes, with the French Navy increasing its planned Aster missile capacity from 16 to 32 rounds under a November 2026 order. ArianeGroup proposes two integration options on a naval vessel: a dedicated eight-cell vertical launch module or an orientable launcher carrying two ballistic missiles, likely in place of an Exocet installation. Neither option is interchangeable with the existing Sylver A50 cells without redesign, and the missile's length likely affects launcher depth, structural integration, and internal volume.

Naval Group's enlarged FDI XL concept, measuring nearly 131 m and displacing 5,400 tonnes, offers another potential integration configuration, although neither frigate design has received an order for the B-Strike 1000. The two alternative B-Strike launch concepts include the SEAir SP200 hydrofoil unmanned surface vessel (USV) and a road-mobile coastal launcher derived from the X-Fire system developed with Thales and Soframe. The SP200 measures 20 m and uses three retractable hydrofoil legs, each incorporating an electric propulsion pod, making it substantially larger than SEAir's 12 m SP120 unmanned vessel. The SP120 is designed for 45 knots maximum speed, 35-38 knots cruising speed in sea state 4, a 400-nautical-mile range, and a 650-1,000 kg payload, although these specifications cannot be transferred to the SP200 ballistic missile configuration.

A single-missile SP200 would distribute the same eight-round load as one proposed frigate module across eight separate vessels, at the expense of eight hulls, propulsion systems, and command links. For coastal operations, the road-mobile configuration could draw on the X-Fire launcher developed by Soframe and Thales in cooperation with ArianeGroup, extending the land-based B-Strike architecture to anti-ship missions. Coastal batteries would avoid dependence on frigate availability but still require surveillance beyond the radar horizon to exploit the missile's 1,000 km reach. Neither the SP200 ballistic missile installation nor the coastal B-Strike configuration has completed operational qualification. The B-Strike family follows approximately five years of ArianeGroup research into conventional ballistic missiles, with the company drawing on propulsion, guidance, and reentry technologies developed through its M51 submarine-launched missile and several experimental programs.

How ArianeGroup's B-Strike could support Europe's long-range missile ambitions

The sequence includes the V-MAX hypersonic glider flight in June 2023, SyLEx sounding rocket launches in November 2025 and November 3-4, 2026, and the FLP-T-150 missile flight on May 5, 2026. During that test, the FLP-T-150 traveled approximately 100 km and reached Mach 4, while its intended operational range exceeded 150 km. However, France finally selected the competing MBDA-Safran Thundart on September 10, 2026, ordering 26 systems with an option for 26 more and targeting initial capability in 2029. The Thundart combines a 150 km missile carrying a 100 kg-class warhead with an eight-wheel-drive Scania launcher and ATLAS artillery command integration. B-Strike 1000 consequently addresses a range 6.67 times greater than the Thundart, rather than an extension of the French Army's existing artillery requirements. 

France's longer-range ballistic missile planning introduces an industrial requirement extending beyond the naval B-Strike 1000, with ArianeGroup pursuing a land-based conventional weapon capable of reaching at least 2,500 km, compared with the MdCN cruise missile's estimated range of 1,400 km. France is considering €1-1.2 billion for initial long-range strike development, potentially beginning in 2028, while initial operational capability for the ballistic missile family has been envisaged for 2031-2032. Germany also expressed interest in ArianeGroup's 2,500 km proposal during July 2026 defense discussions, alongside a €12 billion national long-range missile investment framework. ArianeGroup is also examining the expansion of its ammonium perchlorate capacity at Trauen in Lower Saxony, complementing Toulouse and potential manufacturing activities in Bremen and Ottobrunn.

ArianeGroup's longer-term production planning ranges from several dozen to several hundred conventional ballistic missiles annually, which would require substantially more solid propellant, rocket motors, guidance assemblies, and warheads than today. These industrial ambitions intersect with the European Long-Range Strike Approach, involving France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, while MBDA is pursuing alternative long-range strike capabilities through the MdCN, LCM, and STRATUS-RS missile families. If ordered, the naval B-Strike 1000 would also introduce a European conventional anti-ship ballistic missile comparable in operational purpose to China's YJ-20, which appeared during the September 3, 2025 military parade in Beijing and is associated with the Chinese Navy's Type 052D destroyers and Type 055 cruisers.

China's Type 052D destroyers use a 64-cell universal vertical launch system, while the larger Type 055 cruisers carry 112 cells, providing substantially greater total missile-launch capacity than the French FDI's planned 32-cell Aster configuration. However, the number of cells available on a warship does not establish the number of ballistic missiles it can carry, since missile dimensions, launcher compatibility, and the distribution of cells among different weapons determine the actual loadout. Nevertheless, the relevance of ballistic missile defense to naval operations was demonstrated in 2024 when the French FREMM DA frigate Alsace intercepted three Houthi anti-ship ballistic missiles in the Red Sea during operations associated with the European Union's Aspides mission. In another engagement, twelve Houthi anti-ship ballistic missiles failed to hit a merchant vessel, illustrating that high missile speed alone does not ensure successful attacks against moving ships.

Explore More Defense News

• Land Defense News
• Naval Defense News
• Defense Aerospace News

Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, South Korea, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.