Counter-drone defence with the Rafale: DGA completes integration of laser-guided 68-millimetre rockets

France's procurement agency DGA has successfully integrated laser-guided 68-millimetre rockets into the Rafale combat aircraft – a building block for counter-drone defence. The system, Ladac (Lutte anti‑drone sur avion de combat), is meant to defeat drones such as Shahed types cost-effectively.

Why France is looking for a cheaper solution

The French air force needs an effective, inexpensive counter-drone capability – above all one-way attack “loitering munitions” and small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Using expensive air-to-air missiles such as MICA against cheap drones is considered financially unsustainable.

After examining several options in late 2025, the DGA chose the laser-guided 68-millimetre rocket, which is already qualified on the Tiger attack helicopter. The agency signed the contract for the Ladac capability on the Rafale on 31 December 2025 under an “Urgence Opération” procedure with Dassault Aviation and Thales .

Three components for counter-drone defence

Three main elements work together in the system:

• the Rafale's RBE2 AESA radar, which detects small aerial targets such as drones;
• the Talios targeting pod from Thales, which tracks the target and illuminates it with the laser in air-to-air mode;
• the Telson launcher from TDA Armements/Thales, each carrying 12 laser-guided 68-millimetre rockets of the Aculeus-LG type, which is also referred to as an induction laser-guided rocket.

The rocket is around 1.4 metres long and weighs about 8.8 kilograms; against drones it reaches an effective range of about 3.7 to 5 kilometres. As a semi-active laser-guided missile, it homes in on the laser spot that the Talios pod projects onto the target.

Tests, acceptance and next steps

From February 2026, several DGA test centres conducted extensive trials: flight tests evaluating the air-to-air tracking modes of the Talios pod, assessments of laser target illumination, the electromagnetic qualification of the rocket launchers and flight envelope tests with the rocket launcher on the Rafale.

Live firings against representative aerial targets followed in early July 2026 at the DGA missile test range in Biscarrosse, followed by further trial firings by the CEAM. The DGA declared the integration campaign successfully completed on 7 July 2026.

The air force is to receive an initial partial operational capability shortly. Deliveries of the ordered components are starting at the same time: rocket launchers, rockets and Talios pods with Ladac mode. Full qualification of the weapon system will follow.

How Ladac is used

With Ladac, Rafale pilots no longer have to resort to expensive MICA missiles: drone targets a few kilometres away can be engaged with precise but considerably cheaper 68-millimetre guided rockets. Drone attacks, for example by Shahed types, can thus be repelled efficiently and economically.