France Seeks Cheaper Missiles for Counter-Drone Missions

The French Air and Space Force plans to equip its aircraft with lower-cost missiles to counter drones amid limited stocks of existing air-to-air weapons.

General Jérôme Bellanger, Chief of Staff of the French Air Force, announced the move, Opex360 reported.

According to Belanger, the service should focus on identifying and integrating new, low-cost laser-guided missiles to destroy drones instead of relying on MICA missiles, which cost more than €1 million each.

Despite operating modern Rafale fighter jets, France faces gaps in its ability to respond quickly to emerging threats, in part because it uses a relatively narrow set of air-to-air weapons: the expensive MICA and Meteor missiles.

A similar situation exists with guided bombs. Because France prioritizes domestically developed weapons, Rafale fighter jets do not carry inexpensive precision-guided munitions such as JDAMs. And due to the high cost of the AASM guidance kits, France has been compelled to buy U.S. Paveway-series laser-guided bombs.

“We simply need to take a decisive step and agree to carry something other than ‘made in France’ missiles under our aircraft,” Belanger said.
Among the options available on the market, France is examining:

• ACULEUS-LG (68 mm) from Thales
• FZ275 (70 mm) from Thales Belgium
• APKWS II (Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II) from BAE Systems, which has already proven effective against Houthi drones in the Red Sea with U.S. forces.

No contracts or official announcements on the procurement of new laser-guided or alternative counter-UAV weapons have been made so far. However, Belanger’s comments suggest a possible direction for France’s defense planning in the coming years.

Militarnyi previously reported that the French Air Force is upgrading its Mirage 2000D RMV fighter jets to adapt them to new threats, including drones.

The upgraded aircraft have already received new MICA IR missiles to replace the outdated Magic II, as well as a 30 mm CC422 cannon pod.