A French Rafale fighter has been photographed at Istres carrying a Thales-supplied laser-guided rocket pod, according to images circulating on social media on April 16, 2026.
The sighting suggests that flight trials of the weapon, which the French Air and Space Force has been studying since autumn 2025 as a lower-cost counter-drone effector, have begun.
The aircraft was seen at Dassault Aviation’s flight test center in Istres, southern France. Under each wing, it carried a TELSON 12 JF rocket pod developed by TDA Armements, a Thales subsidiary. Each pod holds 12 induction-activated 68 mm rockets, for a total of 24 rounds carried.
Un Rafale équipé de roquettes guidées laser aperçu à Istres. Les essais ont donc enfin démarré. Ici une nacelle Thalès JF12, donc 24 roquettes 68mm au total. Une corde de plus à l'arc du Rafale, la chasse au Shahed est OUVERTE ! pic.twitter.com/6v0xSMkUJ1
— bruno aviation (@Bruno_Aviation) April 16, 2026
The photograph also shows a Thales TALIOS targeting pod on the fuselage centerline, likely for the Rafale to self-designate targets for the laser-guided rounds.
The sighting coincides with on-the-record confirmation from France’s defense procurement agency that the integration is underway.
Speaking at a parliamentary hearing at the French National Assembly on April 15, 2026, DGA head Patrick Pailloux told lawmakers:
“[We have launched] modification and development work on a pod to integrate rockets on the Rafale. These rockets are manufactured by Thales, and obviously cost much less than MICAs. This is underway, and it will be available this summer.”
Dassault Aviation had not publicly commented on the Istres sighting at the time of publication.
A dedicated fighter launcher with a guided munition
The TELSON 12 JF (for Jet Fighter) is a derivative of the TELSON 12 launcher already in service on the French Army’s Tiger attack helicopter. It is designed to fire 68 mm induction-activated rockets, including the ACULEUS-LG laser-guided round developed by Thales. The ACULEUS-LG was qualified on the Tiger HAD in July 2021, following firings at the DGA Essais de Missiles test range in Biscarosse, with hits recorded on both fixed and moving targets at a range of 4,000 meters.
Thales describes the ACULEUS-LG as offering sub-metric precision with a range of around six kilometers from rotary-wing platforms. The warhead is designed to limit collateral damage to a radius of about 20 meters, in line with the munition’s original use case of close air support against light vehicles in asymmetric conflicts. Integration on the Rafale would extend the launch envelope given the aircraft’s higher speed and altitude, though Thales and the DGA have yet to publish performance figures for a fast-jet launch profile.
TALIOS combines a long-range laser designator with thermal and daylight channels, an air-to-air identification function, and data-link connectivity. Paired with the TELSON 12 JF, it would allow a single Rafale to detect, track, and illuminate a target without the support of a second aircraft or a ground-based designator, a workflow already practiced in air-to-ground missions with GBU-series laser-guided bombs.
An expected response to the Shahed cost problem
The flight trials come against the backdrop of Rafale operations over the United Arab Emirates, where French jets have been intercepting Iranian drones and missiles since Operation Epic Fury began on February 28, 2026. French Rafales have shot down around 60 Iranian drones over the UAE by mid-March. La Tribune indicated that more than 80 MICA air-to-air missiles had been expended in the process.
The cost-exchange ratio has been a running concern in Paris. A MICA air-to-air missile is valued at roughly €600,000 to €700,000 per round, while Iranian Shahed-136 drones are estimated at $20,000 to $50,000, and possibly less. In October 2025, French Air and Space Force Chief of Staff General Jérôme Bellanger told a parliamentary hearing that firing MICA missiles against drones worth a few tens of thousands of dollars was “not sustainable,” and indicated that off-the-shelf laser-guided rockets could be fitted under Mirage 2000 and Rafale jets.
At the time, Bellanger said France was open to foreign solutions, specifically the US-made APKWS II. The Istres sighting, if confirmed as an ACULEUS-LG integration campaign, points to a sovereign French path using an existing TDA Armements munition already in French service on the Tiger.
A wider European move toward guided rockets for drone defense
France is not the only European air force reaching for 68 mm or 70 mm guided rockets as a counter-drone effector. The Belgian Air Force has been conducting integration trials of the Thales Belgium FZ275 LGR on its F-16s since early 2026, with the first airborne photographs released in March 2026.
The UK’s Royal Air Force was also photographed in early March 2026 operating a Typhoon with LAU-131 rocket pods at BAE Systems’ Warton site, a configuration compatible with the APKWS II.
Naval applications are moving on a parallel track. In January 2026, Naval Group conducted land-based firing trials of its Multipurpose and Modular Launching System (MPLS) demonstrator with 68 mm laser-guided induction rockets supplied by Thales, with at-sea firings scheduled for the third quarter of 2026.