The downing of Iranian Shahed drones over the Persian Gulf by MICA missiles fired from Rafale fighters—which rapidly depleted stockpiles—served as a catalyst for France to accelerate efforts to integrate low-cost anti-drone missiles into the jet.
Although the French Ministry of Defense had been discussing this since November 2025, no visible progress had been made—until recently, when Jean-Loup Cardey shared a photo of a Rafale carrying a 68-mm rocket pod alongside a Damocles targeting pod under its wing.
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The photo was determined to have most likely been taken near Istres-Le Tubé Air Base, close to Marseille, which also hosts the flight test center of the Directorate General of Armaments (DGA). The photo shows a prototype of the carrier-based variant, the Rafale M1, which is typically used for test flights.
According to The Aviationist, it has been determined that this pod is the Telson 12 JF from TDA Armements, a subsidiary of Thales. The company demonstrated it in 2025 as a launcher for the 68-mm Aculeus LG rockets with semi-active laser guidance. The rocket itself was developed in the mid-2010s as armament for the modernization of the Tiger Mk III attack helicopter, a program that was halted in 2023.
The 68-mm Aculeus LG rocket weighs 8.8 kg and is 1.4 meters long. Its range has been assessed at five km. It features a unit with a homing head and control surfaces located in the nose section.
It should be noted that the Aculeus LG is very similar to the FZ275 LGR. The latter was developed and is manufactured by the Belgian subsidiary of Thales, although they are different. They differ in size. Еhe FZ275 LGR has a diameter of 70 mm and a length of 1.8 meters, weighs 12.7 kg, and has a stated range of seven km. They also have different guidance and control systems, although they share the same principle of flying toward a reflected laser beam.
The difference in size is clearly visible in the following photo. At the same time, it is currently unclear why France is experimenting with the Aculeus LG rather than the FZ275 LGR. The Aculeus LG has inferior performance specifications, while the 70-mm rocket is already in use in Ukraine and has proven itself in operational conditions.
Overall, the move into the practical phase is positive for France, as previously there was a perception that Paris was simply ignoring the Shahed drone threat. In particular, it had previously been announced that only seven advanced RapidFire anti-drone systems would be acquired. Plans to procure 50 improvised anti-drone systems based on the 53T2 anti-aircraft gun from the 1970s were delayed by two years. In addition, a 7-year ELISA program was launched, aimed at delivering only 1,000 anti-aircraft drones.
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