What Is RAPIDFire? Thales’s 40 mm Counter-Drone Gun System
RAPIDFire is a 40-millimetre, remotely operated close air-defence and counter-drone gun system that Thales developed together with the French defence group KNDS (Nexter). It is designed against a broad span of threats out to 4 kilometres — from light aircraft and drones to loitering munitions, missiles and surface targets — and can be deployed both at sea and on land.
What Is RAPIDFire?
At the heart of RAPIDFire is the 40CT (cased telescoped) cannon, the same gun used on France’s Jaguar armoured reconnaissance vehicle. Telescoped ammunition is a compact design in which the projectile is embedded inside the propellant casing, allowing more rounds to fit in a smaller turret. The system stands out as a cost-effective answer to recent years’ biggest headache — cheap drones arriving in swarms. Its programmable A3B airburst round creates a cloud of shrapnel against aerial targets, improving the odds of hitting small, agile threats.
Technical Specifications
| Feature | Value |
|---|---|
| System type | Remotely operated 40 mm close air-defence / C-UAS gun |
| Manufacturer | Thales + KNDS France (Nexter) |
| Cannon | 40CT cased-telescoped (same gun as Jaguar) |
| Range | up to 4 km |
| Ammunition | All telescoped types; programmable A3B airburst |
| Ready rack | up to 140 rounds |
| Targets | Drones, loitering munitions, light aircraft, missiles, surface targets |
| Variants | Naval (ship) and land (RAPIDFire Land, 2025) |
| Fire control | Recalculates target position after each shot |
Mission Profile and Significance
RAPIDFire’s value lies in answering “the right threat at the right cost.” A missile-defence system makes sense against an expensive ballistic threat, but spending a costly missile on each of ten cheap drones on the horizon is uneconomical. RAPIDFire’s 40 mm gun and programmable ammunition counter such “saturation” attacks at a far lower cost per shot. Its fire-control system recalculates the target’s new position after every shot, improving accuracy against agile threats. The French Navy plans to make RAPIDFire the standard gun system for its second-rank ships — replenishment, patrol and future mine-warfare vessels.
Competitors and Türkiye
RAPIDFire’s main rivals include Rheinmetall’s Skyranger 30, various 35 mm air-defence guns and counter-drone solutions. For Türkiye, the strong indigenous counterparts in this class are ASELSAN’s KORKUT (35 mm land) and GÖKDENİZ (35 mm naval close-in weapon) systems. These too provide close defence against drone and missile threats with programmable airburst ammunition, forming the domestic solution for the Turkish Navy and land forces in this field.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What does RAPIDFire do? It is a 40 mm close air-defence gun system against drones, loitering munitions, light aircraft and surface targets.
- What is its range? Up to 4 km.
- What ammunition does it use? All telescoped 40 mm types, notably the programmable A3B airburst round.
- Is it used on land too? Yes; the RAPIDFire Land variant was unveiled in 2025.
- Who builds it? A partnership of Thales and France’s KNDS (Nexter).
