IN Brief:
- Naval Group's Rampart modular launcher has completed its first firing campaign at sea aboard a French Navy Mistral-class amphibious ship.
- Trials included unguided rockets against a surface target and a Thales 68mm guided rocket against an airborne drone.
- A Piorun missile was installed and achieved seeker lock during the exercise but was not fired.
Naval Group‘s Rampart modular launcher has completed its first live firing campaign at sea, with the French Navy testing guided and unguided 68mm rockets aboard a Mistral-class amphibious assault ship during the WILDFIRE 26.2 counter drone exercise off Toulon.
The campaign ran from 28 September to 2 October and placed Rampart aboard a moving naval platform for the first time. During trials witnessed by Naval News, the launcher fired a salvo of unguided Thales 68mm rockets against a surface target and a guided 68mm rocket against an unmanned aircraft. A Polish Piorun very short range air defence missile was also installed in one of the launch modules; its seeker acquired the drone target, although firing the missile was not part of the trial plan.
Previously known as Naval Group’s Multi-purpose and Modular Launching System, Rampart is being developed as a flexible close in weapon system for naval and land applications. The turret contains four interchangeable modules that can be loaded with different classes of rockets, missiles or other payloads instead of dedicating the complete launcher to one interceptor family.
Weapon size determines how much magazine capacity each configuration retains. Naval News has reported that one module can carry 20 French standard 68mm rockets, giving a configuration using rockets only a theoretical capacity of 80. A module for NATO standard 70mm rockets can carry 12, while very short range missiles occupy more space and reduce the round count further. Mixed loads allow several effector types to share one mounting, although the ship must then divide its available capacity between different threat classes.
WILDFIRE demonstrated two roles for the smaller rocket ammunition. Unguided rounds were fired against a surface target, while the guided Thales rocket engaged an airborne drone. The same launcher can consequently be configured for surface defence, counter UAS and short range air defence without requiring a separate mounting for every munition type.
A naval installation also introduces constraints absent from the earlier land firings. The launcher, sensors and fire control chain have to account for movement of the host vessel while the target may also be moving, and the structure must tolerate vibration, salt exposure and the mechanical loads generated during firing. Deck position affects firing arcs and blast clearances, while electrical supply and combat system interfaces determine whether the launcher can operate as part of the ship rather than as a standalone demonstrator.
Several land firing events had already established the basic launcher and rocket combination. Trials earlier in 2026 included a guided 68mm rocket against a target around 3.5 kilometres away using designation from a Rafale, another guided engagement using a soldier as the designator and a salvo of five rockets. The October campaign moved that established hardware into a more demanding integration environment rather than proving the firing mechanism for the first time.
Smaller guided rockets also create another interception layer for counter drone defence. Using a high performance naval missile against every small unmanned aircraft can consume expensive weapons and limited magazine capacity quickly if the incoming targets are numerous. A guided rocket can sit between electronic countermeasures, guns and larger surface to air missiles, provided the sensor and guidance chain can maintain enough accuracy against the target.
Magazine flexibility does not remove the need to qualify each weapon separately. Piorun’s seeker lock during WILDFIRE showed that part of the missile could function within the trial arrangement, but no launch took place. A complete integration still has to validate launch commands, electrical interfaces, safe separation, exhaust and blast effects, firing envelopes and weapon behaviour from the moving platform before the combination can be treated as a proven naval configuration.
As the ammunition catalogue expands, each additional effector introduces another set of mechanical, electrical and safety interfaces. Trials are planned in the United Arab Emirates with EDGE Group’s SkyKnight missile, while Belgium is expected to host testing of Thales 70mm rockets. Naval Group has also discussed other guided weapons and decoys, leaving the interchangeable module as only one part of a wider integration programme.
Supporting multiple national weapon inventories could make Rampart adaptable across different fleets, particularly where a navy already uses a particular rocket or missile. The engineering workload increases at the same time because the combat system must identify the selected ammunition, pass the appropriate engagement information and enforce the correct safety logic for each weapon configuration.
WILDFIRE 26.2 establishes the first maritime baseline for that work. Rampart has now fired guided and unguided rockets from a French naval platform and demonstrated seeker acquisition with a second missile type installed. More demanding sea conditions, complete missile firings, combat management system integration and repeatable engagement data will determine whether the launcher progresses from a successful sea demonstrator towards an operational close defence system.
