항공무장 드론과 샤헤드 요격을 위해 유도로켓을 테스트중인 라팔

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When Computers Went To Sea | 우크라이나 F-16, 스나이퍼와 유도 로켓으로 샤헤드 사냥 - Daum 카페

우크라이나 F-16, 스나이퍼와 유도 로켓으로 샤헤드 사냥

라팔이 탈레스제 레이저 유도로켓 포드를 달고 비행중인 사진이 찍혔다고합니다. 포드 1개에 68mm 유도로켓 12발이 탑재된다고 하네요. 

F-16의 스나이퍼 포드 + 유도로켓 조합처럼 라팔도 TALIOS 타게팅 포드와 유도로켓을 조합했네요. 

프랑스 공군의 라팔은 UAE의 대드론 요격을 지원중이고, 현재 60대 이상의 드론을 격추했는데 MICA만 80발 이상이 소모됐네요 @.@ 미국제 APKWS 도입 가능성도 열어놨었지만 결국 프랑스제를 다네요. 

라팔의 새로운 안티 샤헤드 무기, 이스트르에서 카메라에 포착

첫 번째 이미지: 라팔, 샤헤드 드론 사냥을 위해 레이저 유도 로켓 탑재
작성자: Clement Charpentreau
편집: Emma Yates-Badley
14시간 전
국방
프랑스 공군

2026년 4월 16일 소셜 미디어에 유포된 이미지에 따르면, 프랑스의 라팔 전투기가 탈레스(Thales)가 공급한 레이저 유도 로켓 포드를 장착한 모습이 이스트르(Istres)에서 촬영되었습니다.

이번 포착은 프랑스 항공우주군이 2025년 가을부터 저비용 드론 대응 수단으로 연구해 온 이 무기의 비행 시험이 시작되었음을 시사합니다. 해당 항공기는 프랑스 남부 이스트르에 위치한 다쏘 항공(Dassault Aviation)의 비행 시험 센터에서 목격되었습니다. 양 날개 아래에는 탈레스의 자회사인 TDA 아르망망(TDA Armements)이 개발한 TELSON 12 JF 로켓 포드가 장착되어 있었습니다. 각 포드에는 유도 방식의 68mm 로켓 12발이 들어 있어, 총 24발이 탑재되었습니다.

사진에는 또한 동체 중앙선에 탈레스의 TALIOS 타겟팅 포드가 장착된 모습이 보이는데, 이는 라팔이 레이저 유도 로켓을 위해 표적을 스스로 지정하기 위한 용도로 보입니다. 이번 목격은 프랑스 국방조달청(DGA)이 통합 작업이 진행 중임을 공식 확인한 것과 시기가 일치합니다. 2026년 4월 15일 프랑스 국민의회에서 열린 의회 청문회에서 파트릭 파이유 DGA 청장은 의원들에게 다음과 같이 말했습니다.

"[우리는] 라팔에 로켓을 통합하기 위한 포드의 수정 및 개발 작업을 시작했습니다. 이 로켓들은 탈레스에서 제조하며, 당연히 MICA 미사일보다 훨씬 저렴합니다. 현재 진행 중이며, 이번 여름에 사용 가능할 것입니다."

다쏘 항공은 보도 시점까지 이스트르에서의 목격에 대해 공식적인 언급을 하지 않았습니다.

유도탄을 갖춘 전투기 전용 발사기
TELSON 12 JF(Jet Fighter용)는 프랑스 육군의 타이거 공격 헬리콥터에 이미 배치된 TELSON 12 발사기의 파생형입니다. 이는 탈레스가 개발한 ACULEUS-LG 레이저 유도 로켓을 포함한 68mm 유도 로켓을 발사하도록 설계되었습니다. ACULEUS-LG는 2021년 7월 비스카로스(Biscarosse)의 DGA 미사일 시험장에서 고정 및 이동 표적 모두에 대해 4,000미터 거리에서 명중을 기록하며 타이거 HAD 헬기에서 자격을 획득했습니다.

탈레스는 ACULEUS-LG가 회전익 플랫폼에서 발사 시 약 6km의 사거리와 1미터 미만의 정밀도를 제공한다고 설명합니다. 탄두는 비대칭 분쟁에서 경차량에 대한 근접 항공 지원이라는 원래의 용도에 맞춰 부수적 피해 반경을 약 20미터로 제한하도록 설계되었습니다. 라팔에 통합될 경우 항공기의 더 높은 속도와 고도로 인해 발사 범위가 확장되겠지만, 탈레스와 DGA는 아직 고속 제트기 발사 프로필에 대한 성능 수치를 발표하지 않았습니다.

TALIOS 포드는 장거리 레이저 지정기와 열화상 및 주간 채널, 공대공 식별 기능, 데이터 링크 연결성을 결합한 장비입니다. TELSON 12 JF와 짝을 이루면, 단 한 대의 라팔이 두 번째 항공기나 지상 지정기의 지원 없이도 표적을 탐지, 추적 및 조사할 수 있게 되는데, 이는 GBU 시리즈 레이저 유도 폭탄을 사용하는 공대지 임무에서 이미 숙달된 작업 방식입니다.

샤헤드 비용 문제에 대한 예상된 대응
이번 비행 시험은 2026년 2월 28일 '에픽 퓨리 작전(Operation Epic Fury)'이 시작된 이후 프랑스 전투기들이 아랍에미리트(UAE) 상공에서 이란의 드론과 미사일을 요격해 온 라팔 작전을 배경으로 이루어졌습니다. 프랑스 라팔 기들은 3월 중순까지 UAE 상공에서 약 60대의 이란 드론을 격추했습니다. 라 트리뷴(La Tribune)은 이 과정에서 80발 이상의 MICA 공대공 미사일이 소모되었다고 전했습니다.

비용 대비 효율성은 파리 당국의 지속적인 우려 사항이었습니다. MICA 공대공 미사일 한 발의 가치는 약 60만 유로에서 70만 유로인 반면, 이란의 샤헤드-136 드론은 2만 달러에서 5만 달러, 혹은 그 이하로 추정되기 때문입니다. 2025년 10월, 제롬 벨랑제(Jérôme Bellanger) 프랑스 항공우주군 참모총장은 의회 청문회에서 수만 달러 가치의 드론에 MICA 미사일을 발사하는 것은 "지속 가능하지 않다"라고 말하며, 기성 제품인 레이저 유도 로켓을 미라주 2000과 라팔 전투기에 장착할 수 있음을 시사했습니다.

당시 벨랑제 총장은 프랑스가 외국 솔루션, 특히 미국산 APKWS II 도입에 열려 있다고 말했습니다. 이번 이스트르에서의 목격이 ACULEUS-LG 통합 작업으로 확인된다면, 이는 타이거 헬기에서 이미 사용 중인 기존 TDA 아르망망 무기를 활용하는 프랑스의 독자적인 경로를 의미하게 됩니다.

드론 방어를 위한 유도 로켓으로의 광범위한 유럽 행보
드론 대응 수단으로 68mm 또는 70mm 유도 로켓을 채택하려는 유럽 공군은 프랑스만이 아닙니다. 벨기에 공군은 2026년 초부터 F-16에 탈레스 벨기에의 FZ275 LGR 통합 시험을 진행해 왔으며, 2026년 3월에 첫 공중 촬영 사진을 공개했습니다.

영국 공군(RAF) 또한 2026년 3월 초 BAE 시스템즈의 워턴(Warton) 기지에서 APKWS II와 호환되는 LAU-131 로켓 포드를 장착한 타이푼 전투기를 운용하는 모습이 포착되었습니다. 해상 응용 분야도 병행하여 진행되고 있습니다. 2026년 1월, 나발 그룹(Naval Group)은 탈레스가 공급한 68mm 레이저 유도 유도 로켓을 사용하여 자사의 다목적 모듈형 발사 시스템(MPLS) 시연기의 지상 발사 시험을 실시했으며, 해상 발사는 2026년 3분기로 예정되어 있습니다.

Rafale's new anti-Shahed weapon caught on camera at Istres

Rafale's new anti-Shahed weapon caught on camera at Istres

First image: Rafale carries laser-guided rockets to hunt Shahed drones

ByClement Charpentreau

Edited ByEmma Yates-Badley

14 hours ago

Defense

Armee de l’air et de l’espace

A French Rafale fighter has been photographed at Istres carrying a Thales-supplied laser-guided rocket pod, according to images circulating on social media on April 16, 2026.  

The sighting suggests that flight trials of the weapon, which the French Air and Space Force has been studying since autumn 2025 as a lower-cost counter-drone effector, have begun. 

The aircraft was seen at Dassault Aviation’s flight test center in Istres, southern France. Under each wing, it carried a TELSON 12 JF rocket pod developed by TDA Armements, a Thales subsidiary. Each pod holds 12 induction-activated 68 mm rockets, for a total of 24 rounds carried. 

The photograph also shows a Thales TALIOS targeting pod on the fuselage centerline, likely for the Rafale to self-designate targets for the laser-guided rounds. 

The sighting coincides with on-the-record confirmation from France’s defense procurement agency that the integration is underway.

Speaking at a parliamentary hearing at the French National Assembly on April 15, 2026, DGA head Patrick Pailloux told lawmakers:

“[We have launched] modification and development work on a pod to integrate rockets on the Rafale. These rockets are manufactured by Thales, and obviously cost much less than MICAs. This is underway, and it will be available this summer.”

Dassault Aviation had not publicly commented on the Istres sighting at the time of publication. 

A dedicated fighter launcher with a guided munition 

The TELSON 12 JF (for Jet Fighter) is a derivative of the TELSON 12 launcher already in service on the French Army’s Tiger attack helicopter. It is designed to fire 68 mm induction-activated rockets, including the ACULEUS-LG laser-guided round developed by Thales. The ACULEUS-LG was qualified on the Tiger HAD in July 2021, following firings at the DGA Essais de Missiles test range in Biscarosse, with hits recorded on both fixed and moving targets at a range of 4,000 meters. 

Thales describes the ACULEUS-LG as offering sub-metric precision with a range of around six kilometers from rotary-wing platforms. The warhead is designed to limit collateral damage to a radius of about 20 meters, in line with the munition’s original use case of close air support against light vehicles in asymmetric conflicts. Integration on the Rafale would extend the launch envelope given the aircraft’s higher speed and altitude, though Thales and the DGA have yet to publish performance figures for a fast-jet launch profile. 

TALIOS combines a long-range laser designator with thermal and daylight channels, an air-to-air identification function, and data-link connectivity. Paired with the TELSON 12 JF, it would allow a single Rafale to detect, track, and illuminate a target without the support of a second aircraft or a ground-based designator, a workflow already practiced in air-to-ground missions with GBU-series laser-guided bombs.

An expected response to the Shahed cost problem 

The flight trials come against the backdrop of Rafale operations over the United Arab Emirates, where French jets have been intercepting Iranian drones and missiles since Operation Epic Fury began on February 28, 2026. French Rafales have shot down around 60 Iranian drones over the UAE by mid-March. La Tribune indicated that more than 80 MICA air-to-air missiles had been expended in the process. 

The cost-exchange ratio has been a running concern in Paris. A MICA air-to-air missile is valued at roughly €600,000 to €700,000 per round, while Iranian Shahed-136 drones are estimated at $20,000 to $50,000, and possibly less. In October 2025, French Air and Space Force Chief of Staff General Jérôme Bellanger told a parliamentary hearing that firing MICA missiles against drones worth a few tens of thousands of dollars was “not sustainable,” and indicated that off-the-shelf laser-guided rockets could be fitted under Mirage 2000 and Rafale jets. 

At the time, Bellanger said France was open to foreign solutions, specifically the US-made APKWS II. The Istres sighting, if confirmed as an ACULEUS-LG integration campaign, points to a sovereign French path using an existing TDA Armements munition already in French service on the Tiger. 

A wider European move toward guided rockets for drone defense 

France is not the only European air force reaching for 68 mm or 70 mm guided rockets as a counter-drone effector. The Belgian Air Force has been conducting integration trials of the Thales Belgium FZ275 LGR on its F-16s since early 2026, with the first airborne photographs released in March 2026. 

The UK’s Royal Air Force was also photographed in early March 2026 operating a Typhoon with LAU-131 rocket pods at BAE Systems’ Warton site, a configuration compatible with the APKWS II. 

Naval applications are moving on a parallel track. In January 2026, Naval Group conducted land-based firing trials of its Multipurpose and Modular Launching System (MPLS) demonstrator with 68 mm laser-guided induction rockets supplied by Thales, with at-sea firings scheduled for the third quarter of 2026

[백선호]

독수리 잡으려고 총을 갖고 있는데 갑자기 모기들이 엄청 나타나자 모기들에게 총을 쏴댄 셈입니다... 총만 갖고 있으면 될 것이 아니라 에프 킬라도 갖고 있어야 하는 세상...

[위종민]

레이저 유도 로켓으로 샤헤드를 맞추려면 레이저로 샤헤드를 계속 비춰줘야 할 텐데, 샤헤드에 비싼 레이저경보장치같은 건 안 달 테니 문제없으려나요?

DEW가 확실한 에프킬라나 모기장 역할을 할 텐데 실용화가 늦어지네요.

[엽군]

우리도 20년 전에 레이저 유도로 갔어야되는데, 비냉각 열상 쓰는 머저리 짓을 한 대가죠. : ) 물론, 상황에 따라서 비냉각 열상에서 해법을 찾을 수도 있다지만.