Ukraine will be receiving Rafale fighters in the coming years, and while the details of the deal — including which specific variant will join the Ukrainian Air Force — remain unknown, news of upgrades to the French aircraft has taken on new relevance.
For instance, we recently reported that the Rafale F4 can control a drone via the new NAMIB system. Now, France's DGA (Direction générale de l'armement) — the main procurement and engineering agency of the French Armed Forces Ministry — has confirmed the successful integration of 68mm laser-guided rockets onto Rafale fighters under the LADAC programme (Lutte anti-drone sur avion de combat).
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As The War Zone reports, the work was carried out with the participation of the French Air and Space Force's aerospace research and test centre and defense companies Dassault Aviation and Thales — resulting, the publication suggests, in the integration of Aculeus-LG rockets onto the Rafale.
Integration of precisely this weapon had been informally reported as far back as April, and it is a somewhat puzzling choice given the existence of the FZ275 LGR, which has superior characteristics and is already in service with Ukraine's Defense Forces.
It is also known that the Rafale received the Telson JF12 launcher from Thales, accommodating 12 rockets, and that the RBE2 radar was modified to support the fighter's anti-drone role. Integration work for the 68mm rockets began on an urgent basis on 31 December last year — before this year's operation against Iran, during which France found itself caught in a shortage of missiles to counter Shaheds with its Rafales.
The entire integration process thus took just over six months. For comparison, it took Britain eight months to integrate APKWS onto the Eurofighter — despite both the rockets and the aircraft being produced by BAE Systems.
Notably, the LADAC programme was initially intended solely for Rafales in French military service. It has now been stated, however, that the anti-drone capabilities of French fighters will be available to export customers as well — and that the system could potentially be integrated onto other combat aircraft.
Defense Express notes that this decision has a straightforward explanation. The need to shoot down drones using low-cost munitions is highly relevant today, and leaving a fighter without such a capability is shortsighted — as is missing the opportunity to sell the rockets separately to meet the needs of individual countries.
Defense Express previously reported on which specific Rafale variants France will be able to provide to Ukraine as early as 2028–2029.
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