Two parliamentarians alert to the urgency to replace the unitary launch system (LRU), essential for high intensity conflicts.
The deputies Jean-Louis Thiériot (LR) and Matthieu Bloch (UDR) sound the alarm in a parliamentary report: France risks being destitute of long-range artillery capacities, if nothing is undertaken quickly to replace the unit rocket launch system, which will be struck with obsolescence by 2027.
At the yardstick of the concept of war of “high intensity”, the rapporteurs explain that in the absence of air superiority – as is the case in the conflict in Ukraine – artillery plays “a central role”. According to data collected, in Ukraine, “almost 70% of enemy destruction, especially in the first phase of the war, result from artillery strikes”.
“France has a real delay on support in depth and we risk a temporary reduction in capacity after the end of the LRU”, alerts Jean-Louis Thiériot, interviewed by BFM Business.
Designed on a wealthy chassis, the unit rocket launcher can take 12 rockets, and displays a range of 15 at more than 70 kilometers. It was briefly used in Mali as part of Operation Serval/Barkhane in 2016. Three copies are currently deployed in Romania.
Problem: only nine copies remain in the army, according to a study by IFRI published in November 2024, four systems were ceded to Ukraine, even though the military programming law (LPM) 2024-2030 provides for a target of at least 13 long-range strike systems at the end of 2030, 26 in 2035.
-With this in mind, and while the French LRU could be unusable in two years due to the absence of spare parts, it becomes urgent and imperative to develop a system to replace them as soon as possible.
The deputies deplore “the non-anticipation before 2023 of the temporary rupture of the LRU, even though the usefulness of the unit rocket launchers had been widely demonstrated in conflicts prior to February 24, 2022, like the Haut-Karabagh war”.
Plan “after-lru”
Jean-Louis Thiériot warns: we must develop “a sovereign solution, but subject to going quickly and being able to do so at an acceptable cost”.
The preparation phase of the “Long -range Terrestrial Strike” program was launched in 2023. Two consortia launched development work in 2024: Safran and Mbda on the one hand, Thales and Arianegroup on the other. According to the initial calendar, a first demonstration shot must take place in April 2026 and the commissioning in 2030, “it’s late”, according to the deputy.
In addition, the program would have already been late, an additional factor of concern about the capacity rupture for the army.
Other alternatives are mentioned in the report: a “shelf” purchase solution of an already operational foreign system (American Himars, South Korean K239, German-Israeli European, Indian Pinaka), but also the project of the French company Turgis & Gaillard, which has just unveiled its system called lightning, potentially capable of taking the RELI of the LRU in 2027. Complement of projects under development by major principals. “We must examine all the solutions,” insists Jean-Louis Thiériot.
