The announcement was made on April 15 by the general delegate for armaments, Patrick Pailloux, during a hearing at the National Assembly. As part of the development of the European ELSA project for a conventional ground-to-ground ballistic missile (MBT) with a budget of 1.1 billion euros under the Military Programming Law (LPM) 2024-2030 update, the Directorate General of Armaments (DGA) is considering associating it with the hypersonic glider V-MAX (Experimental Maneuvering Vehicle), as reported by Zone Militaire Opex 360.
The goal is to develop conventional strike capabilities in depth. “We have identified what we want to do in terms of technology, namely a ballistic missile equipped with a hypersonic maneuvering glider. Our calculations, in the mathematical sense, show us that this is probably the best value for military performance,” emphasized Patrick Pailloux. However, nothing is certain yet, as discussions are still ongoing with European partners to “see if we can build something together.”
Modifications are still possible. The European Long-Range Strike Approach (ELSA) is a cooperation between France, Germany, Italy, and Poland, later joined by the United Kingdom and Sweden. This project aims to respond to other major powers such as the United States, China, Russia, or India, which already have such military capabilities. “Germany, the United Kingdom, and France, as part of our ELSA initiative, will work on very long-range missile projects together,” stated Emmanuel Macron at the beginning of March.
The President emphasized the need to have “new options to manage conventionally the escalation, at a time when adversaries are deploying new technologies and weapons.” Additionally, the report attached to the LPM update project specifies that studies are underway to have “a conventional ground-to-ground ballistic missile with a range of 2,500 km by the end of the next decade,” with potential cooperation with Germany and the UK.
