ArianeGroup reveals FLP-T 150 rocket for France’s long-range strike program

ArianeGroup has publicly confirmed that it is developing a 150-kilometer tactical rocket with Thales under France’s FLP-T long-range land strike effort, offering one of the clearest public looks yet at the consortium’s bid to help replace the French Army’s aging rocket artillery capability. 

In a post published on March 10, 2026, ArianeGroup said the FLP-T 150 rocket is designed to reach 150 kilometers, with sub-decametric precision, resilience in jammed environments, an ITAR-free architecture, and a “mobile and scalable system.” The company added that a first demonstrator is planned for the first half of 2026. 

The announcement gives a clearer public profile to the ArianeGroup-Thales team, which until now had remained less visible than other industrial players involved in France’s effort to restore sovereign long-range strike capabilities. 

France seeks LRU replacement 

France initiated the FLP-T project to restore a sovereign long-range ground strike capability as the remaining Lance-Roquettes Unitaire (LRU) systems that were not donated to Ukraine approach retirement. Parliamentary documents indicate that the LRU is due to reach the end of its service life in 2027. 

France has been under pressure to avoid a capability gap in long-range rocket artillery, while also weighing whether domestic solutions can be delivered on schedule against off-the-shelf alternatives such as India’s Pinaka or the South Korean K239 Chunmoo rocket systems. 

The FLP-T program is part of a larger French initiative aimed at enhancing depth-strike capabilities while decreasing reliance on foreign technologies, particularly US-controlled export components. This incremental program specifically focuses on strike ranges of less than 150 kilometers. 

Competing French bids take shape 

Several industrial solutions have already emerged around that requirement.  In October 2025, MBDA and Safran unveiled the Thundart guided rocket as a candidate to replace the LRU, also presenting it as a sovereign, ITAR-free system with a range of around 150 kilometers.

Turgis Gaillard, meanwhile, unveiled its Foudre launcher, developed in partnership with Airbus, at the Paris Air Show 2025