Four launch modules mounted on a French Navy Mistral-class amphibious assault ship gave Naval Group’s Rampart launcher its first live firings at sea, during the WILDFIRE 26.2 counter-drone exercise off Toulon from Sept. 28 to Oct. 2, 2026. The launcher fired a salvo of Thales 68mm unguided rockets against a surface target and a Thales 68mm guided rocket against a target drone.
Naval News reported the campaign on Oct. 5, 2026, describing it as the very first at-sea test campaign for the system. The report does not name the ship, and it does not say whether either target was hit. Naval Group has not published its own account of the firings in the material available for this article.
The Naval News report by Xavier Vavasseur lists the two live-fire events: “A salvo of 68mm unguided rockets by Thales fired against a surface target,” identified as a “Tomato killer,” and “A 68mm guided rocket by Thales fired against a target UAV.” A third weapon went along without firing: “A Polish Piorun missile was also present in one of the four modules of the Rampart launcher. While the VSHORAD missile wasn’t fired (it wasn’t the plan for this maiden at-sea trial) the seeker of the missile was active and locked on the target UAV.”
VSHORAD stands for very short-range air defense. Per the report, the Piorun’s seeker tracked the drone, but no missile left the launcher.
WILDFIRE 26.2 off Toulon
The exercise was the sixth edition of the French Navy’s counter-drone series, per Naval News, organized by the training division of the Force d’Action Navale (FAN). The report says “WILDFIRE 26.2 brought together six naval vessels—including a FREMM DA air-defense frigates, a Chevallier-class supply vessel, a La Fayette-class frigate, the two Horizon type Air Defense destroyers, and, for the first time, a Mistral-class LHD.”
Aircraft took part too. Per the report, the ships “were supported by naval aviation assets, including Rafale Marine fighters, an Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft, and various helicopters, alongside simulated drone threats orchestrated by DGA Missile Tests from the Levant Island.” The DGA is France’s defense procurement agency.
What the Rampart launcher is built to carry
Naval Group named the system in June. The company’s June 17, 2026 announcement says the launcher, previously called MPLS for multipurpose and modular launching system, was renamed Rampart and revealed under that name on June 15 at Eurosatory 2026. The name reflects “the principle behind this launcher, which is to render each naval vessel impenetrable,” the company said. That is a design aim, not a tested result.
The same announcement says the launcher had already fired “68 mm laser-guided and non-guided rockets in a ground-to-ground configuration” during May testing at Canjuers, France. Naval Group says Rampart, paired with a close-range protection control station, “covers the entire firing loop: right from threat detection to automatic target tracking, up to initiation of firing.”
Load-outs vary by module. Naval News reported on June 17, 2026 that “Each turret is outfitted with four launch modules,” with 20 Thales 68mm laser-guided rockets per module for up to 80, or 12 NATO-standard 70mm rockets per module for up to 48. Its Oct. 5 report says the modules can take “unguided rockets, guided rockets, very short-range surface-to-air missiles, and short-range surface-to-surface missiles.”
The launcher had been seen before it fired. The War Zone reported on Sept. 22, 2026 that Naval Group had planned the first at-sea firing campaign for October aboard a Mistral-class ship during WILDFIRE, adding that “the specific identity of the vessel is unclear.”
Sky Knight and 70mm trials ahead
More firing is scheduled. Naval News says upcoming trials “will include trials in the United Arab Emirates using Edge Group’s Sky Knight missile system, as well as tests scheduled in Belgium next year utilizing 70 mm rockets developed by Thales Belgium.”
The UAE work has a signed basis. France’s naval industry association GICAN reported on June 24, 2026 that on June 16, 2026, Naval Group and HALCON, an EDGE Group subsidiary, signed a cooperation agreement for firing trials of the SKYKNIGHT air defense missile from Rampart. Testing in the UAE is to span 2026 and 2027, with a land phase followed by trials at sea. Those are the next published steps after the Toulon firings.
Top image: The French Navy Mistral-class amphibious assault ship Dixmude (L9015) in 2012. Naval News did not name the ship that carried Rampart. Image Credit: Simon Ghesquiere/Marine Nationale — CC BY-SA 3.0 / Wikimedia Commons
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Combat Rated editors prior to publication.