France pursues sovereign rocket artillery with Safran-MBDA
France has started exclusive negotiations with Safran and MBDA to supply domestically produced rocket artillery and munitions, sidelining competing bids from Thales/ArianeGroup and Lockheed Martin, in a bid to ensure sovereignty and faster delivery; the consortium aims to deliver the first systems by 2029 and help build a war-ready division by 2027 and an army corps by 2030, with Thundart missiles of about 150 km range and potential longer ranges, and a launcher shown on a Scania truck.