Thales tests the launch of the X-Fire missile: the French sovereign ground strike system that exceeds 150 km.
Thales has conducted the first live launches of the long-range ground launch platform X-Fire, a system that Paris expects will establish France’s sovereign capability for deep strike in the coming decade. The mobile 8×8 launch platform is designed to reach 150 km and beyond once the FLP-t 150 ammunition enters service.
The European defense industry reported on May 26, 2026, that the first launches took place on May 20, 2026. The test rounds used the X-Fum training missile with a diameter of 68 mm, with the operational payload — the sovereign ballistic ammunition FLP-t 150 — expected to mature before the end of the decade.
The Platform: Agile 8×8, GPS-resistant, Multi-caliber
X-Fire is based on a specially designed 8×8 chassis for integration with the current logistics fleet of the French army. Thales equipped the launch platform with a jamming-resistant receiver TopStar Smart GNSS and an acceleration measurement unit TopAxyz, both designed for contested electromagnetic environments. The goal of this combination is to maintain targeting accuracy under jamming and spoofing of GPS.
Thales Vice President Assoun stated that the multi-use capability of X-Fire “balances the need for sovereign ballistic ammunition by the end of the decade with the continuity of operations in the meantime.” Preparations for ramping up production have already been described as underway.
The Long-Range Artillery Race in Europe
The arrival of X-Fire reflects an increasing race in Europe in the field of long-range artillery and tactical ballistic launch platforms. The PULS systems from the KNDS partnership with Germany and Israel compete with Lockheed Martin’s M270 and HIMARS families, and collaborative launch platforms from Rheinmetall-Elbit for several NATO contracts. Paris’s emphasis on “sovereignty” regarding X-Fire is a tangible signal of its intention to reduce reliance on suppliers in this sector.
Turkish Industry Perspective
For the Turkish defense industry, X-Fire is considered a direct counterpart to the KASIRGA-150 / KASIRGA-300 family from Roketsan and TRG-300 TIGER, which operate in the same range. Roketsan already has GPS/INS guided munitions with a range of 150 km in serial production. Aside from current export customers from Turkey such as Bahrain, Azerbaijan, and Bangladesh, the timing of any French deployment of the X-Fire will pose competition for new orders in Europe in the late 2020s.
Next Steps
A specific date for the qualification of FLP-t 150 has not been disclosed, but the goal by the end of the decade suggests that the first operational units may use the system between 2028 and 2030.
Sources
- European Defense Industry — “Thales Completes First Launches of X-Fire Platform for Long-Range Ground Strike Capability,” May 26, 2026
- Thales Group — Technical Data Sheets for TopStar Smart GNSS / TopAxyz IMU
- Recent Analyses on European Artillery Modernization (HIMARS, PULS, MARS II)
- Open Product Catalog of Roketsan
