DGA Orders 13 Unitary Missile Launchers

France’s Directorate General for Armaments (DGA) on Sept. 8 awarded BWB, the German armaments agency, an order for 13 Guided Unitary MLRS Rocket Launchers (known as lance-roquettes unitaire, or LRU, in France). The LRU program addresses the need to conduct all-weather precision ground strikes at ranges of up to 70 km. This acquisition, carried out in cooperation with Germany and Italy, will convert the Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS) launchers, which entered French service in the early 90s, into unitary missile launchers. They will be delivered in 2014 to the French army. The MLRS weapon system was designed to disperse large amounts of submunitions on an enemy force conducting a major offensive. It is no longer operational following the withdrawal of the M26 rocket decided by France in 2008 under the provisions of the Oslo Convention on the prohibition of cluster munitions. Unlike the MLRS, the LRU is designed to engage pin-point targets while minimizing collateral damages.