French defense: DGA aims to associate the hypersonic glider V

The announcement was made on April 15 by the delegate general 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), for which the 2024-30 Military Programming Law (LPM) update project provides a budget of 1.1 billion euros, the Directorate General of Armaments (DGA) is considering associating it with the hypersonic glider V-MAX (Experimental Maneuvering Vehicle), as reported by the Opex 360 Military Zone website.

The stated 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 maneuvering hypersonic glider. Our calculations, in the mathematical sense of the term, show us that this is probably the best price/performance ratio for military capabilities,” highlighted Patrick Pailloux. But nothing is final yet, as he hinted during the Assembly that 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 agreement between France, Germany, Italy, and Poland, later joined by the United Kingdom and Sweden. This project discussed by the DGA aims to respond to other 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 together on very long-range missile projects,” said Emmanuel Macron at the beginning of March.

The head of state emphasized the need to have “new options to manage conventional escalation, at a time when adversaries are deploying new technologies and weapons.” Furthermore, 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 cooperation “considered” with Germany and the United Kingdom.