It is the surprise of the artillery report presented on Wednesday by two deputies: the French group Turgis & Gaillard works in a multiple rocket launches system called Lightning.
Presented as “made in France” teams, Lightning could draw French as foreign ammunition, to achieve objectives between 75 km and up to 1,000 kilometers away with cruise missiles. In a press release, Turgis & Gaillard is based on a “highly mobile” product, a transportable “compact and armored” vehicles on C-130 or A400m-type airplanes.
With Lightning, Turgis & Gaillard is looking at the long -range artillery market. In fact, it is likely that the rocket launchers of the Aging Unit (LRU) of the French army are obsolete from 2027 and the projects launched by two French consortiums (Safran/MBDA and Thales/Arianegroup) would not be available before 2030 as soon as possible, according to the report of the deputies Jean-Llouis Thirioiot and Matthieu Bloch
Produce in France and quickly
Although the French industry is convened to increase its production rates to comply with the rules of the war economy, Turgis & Gaillard shows its ability to “enter the high cadence mode”, thanks to its Dales factories. And a French solution stands out, to face the challenges of sovereignty and avoid as much as possible the acquisitions of “shelf”, the team produced abroad.
The French ETI, created in 2011, which today uses around 400 employees for a turnover of 75 million euros, is not in its first attempt: Turgis & Gaillard had already been surprised in 2023 by revealing the Aarok, a male drone (average altitude resistance) produced in France and presented as the “little brother” of Eurodrone, this European drone program that continues with accumulation of delay. A first flight from Aarok is also expected in the coming weeks.
Presented at the Static Exhibition of the Bourget Fair in 2023, Aarok had aroused strong interest. Rebellot two years later with Lightning, a prototype of which will be exhibited in mid -June on the occasion of the 2025 edition of the Aeronautical and Space Badge Fair.
European perspective
Turgis & Gaillard indicates that the Lightning program “is part of the dynamics of the ELSA project (European long length strike), to develop and produce long -range attack capabilities.
The initiative, launched in July 2024 by Germany, France, Italy and Poland, aroused the interest of Sweden and the United Kingdom, which joined in the fall. A first plenary meeting between member countries was held last December.
Source: BFM TV
