France

The French Air and Space Force plans to receive upgraded MBDA Mica NG air-to-air missiles in two years, without the need to modify the Rafales that carry them.

French satellite-making startup U-Space has tasked MaiaSpace with launching the Toutatis demonstration due in 2027.

France has completed the first flight test of the suborbital SyLEx sounding rocket, which gives the country its first homegrown suborbital launcher.

The ESA will request €600 million from member states at a ministerial council later this month for the first cargo mission of the Argonaut lunar lander.

France’s air chief is calling for more Rafales to form a dedicated nuclear squadron, which may ease training loads but create delivery schedule challenges.

Dassault’s Rafale has become the second combat aircraft selected to be the backbone of Ukraine’s future air force.

The French supply chain is back on its 2019 pre-pandemic activity levels and even surpassed them in 2024, aerospace lobby GIFAS says.

France is developing ground-based systems to protect its satellites, French President Emmanuel Macron said Nov. 12.

France has published images of its newly-upgraded ASMPA-R nuclear-tipped standoff missile for the first time, following a successful second firing.

The sky is not the limit for Europe’s “Drone Wall” as the region looks at missile defense beyond the atmosphere.

As the drama over the Franco-German-Spanish Future Combat Air System nears its climax, Airbus is sketching out what is to come.

Paris has given Thales the nod to provide the next-generation, ground-based Aurore space surveillance radar to track spacecraft and debris in low Earth orbit.

The French government has declared the latest iteration of its M51 submarine-launched ballistic missile is ready for operational service.

France and Germany have committed to field a space-based missile warning system by 2030, seeking to plug Europe's capability gap.

German aircraft engine maker MTU remains hopeful the French/German/Spanish Future Combat Air System program will move forward.

France is budgeting €2.9 billion for the development and acquisition of a new generation maritime patrol aircraft, budget documents have revealed.

AMI Metals, a U.S.-based supplier of aluminum plate, sheet, bar and extruded profiles, is creating a factory in Varilhes, southwest France.

Airbus Helicopters is planning to ramp up production of its new H160 twin-engine medium rotorcraft to up to 60 aircraft a year.

France’s Air and Space Force is studying how to separate the Dassault Rafale fighters and Airbus A330 multirole tanker transports it uses for nuclear deterrence from the rest of its fleets.

The French Navy has selected the Pilatus PC-24 light business jet as a replacement for its long-serving Dassault Falcon 10 business jet utility aircraft.

Dark, a French startup developing a vehicle for the capture of low-Earth-orbit objects, has ceased operations, the company announced Oct. 8.

Archer and Joby displayed their eVTOL aircraft at the California International Airshow in Salinas on Oct. 4-5.

Hemeria is preparing for the second flight test of its Balman maneuvering balloon in October and a longer one next year.

The French government says it has ordered five additional Dassault Aviation Falcon 2000LXS Albatros aircraft for maritime surveillance.

French startup Beyond Aero has bench tested a full-scale hydrogen-electric powertrain.