The French company Thales will increase the production of mortar rounds four times.

The company said that by 2026 their plant should produce 80 thousand 120-mm mortar rounds per year.

The buildup comes amid an increase in ammunition orders from France’s defense ministry.

The company’s defense enterprise in the municipality of La Ferte-Sainte-Aubin (near Orléans) in 2023 produced 20 thousand mortar mines.

New ammunition will be delivered to units armed with trailed mortars, as well as mobile mortar systems MEPAC.

Deliveries within the contract of the French Ministry of Defense will be made between 2024 and 2029, the first batch will arrive in the fourth quarter of this year.

In addition to the plant in La Ferte-Sainte-Aubin, a number of Thales partners in the defense industry and technology base will be involved in the implementation of the new order.

In particular, companies that produce machined round hulls and other components will be involved.

The French MEPAC semi-automatic mortar system, to which new mortar rounds will be transferred, is equipped with a 2R2M 120-mm mortar from Thales.

MEPAC systems have a firing rate of up to 10 rounds per minute, a firing range of up to 13 kilometers.

“Rifled mortars made by Thales are three times more accurate than smoothbore mortars and the only mortars that are not inferior in characteristics to 155-mm artillery systems,” Thales representatives said.

As previously reported, the Ukrainian Defense Forces at the front use French MO-120-RT61 120mm mortars. A French-made mortar hits 8.5 kilometers with a conventional mortar round.