Man image: A Thales employee holds up a model that shows the relative size of the FZ123 warhead. Matthew Loh/Business Insider
European manufacturer Thales Belgium is ramping up production of air‑burst warheads for its 70 mm rockets, which are already being used to counter drones in Ukraine, Business Insider reports.
“As Russia barrages Ukraine with growing waves of Shahed one-way attack drones, European weapons manufacturer Thales has been fitting an airburst warhead on its 70mm rockets to counter such threats. The new FZ123 warhead is filled with thousands of tiny steel pellets blasted out by two pounds of high-explosive material. When the warhead detonates, the pellets burst out in an area of about 80 feet in diameter to take down a drone or drone swarm, much like the way birdshot spreads from a shotgun shell. Depending on how far the rocket has been flying, the steel balls can be spread even wider,” the publication writes.
Thales says the rocket warhead is an inexpensive way to destroy NATO standard Class II drones — which include the Shahed — and even heavier Class III drones at ranges up to 3 km using air bursts.
Thomas Colinet, Thales Belgium’s director for vehicles and tactical systems, confirmed the weapon is being used in Ukraine and that Kyiv’s demand exceeds the company’s production capacity.
“The good thing for us is, if they are asking for more, it means they are happy with it,” he said.
Thales Belgium plans to produce roughly 3,500 such rockets by the end of the year and hopes to increase annual output to 10,000 units by 2026. The anti‑drone warhead can also be fitted to an unguided version of the 70 mm rocket, which can currently be manufactured at a rate of 30,000 per year. If production runs two shifts, annual capacity could reach 60,000, although suppliers would also need to scale up.
Thales Belgium declined to disclose the price of its 70 mm rockets with the FZ123 warhead. Even so, the most expensive laser‑guided rockets usually cost about five times less than conventional air‑to‑air missiles. Cheaper air‑defense missiles like the AIM‑7 Sparrow cost about $125,000 each.
That said, not all of these rockets are fitted with anti‑drone warheads — Thales Belgium also produces air‑to‑surface and surface‑to‑surface rockets. For example, some of its 70 mm rockets are used to destroy Russian ground unmanned vehicles.
Compatible with standard NATO 70 mm launchers, these rockets are currently used in Ukrainian Vampire systems — multi‑barrel launchers by L3Harris that can be mounted on trucks. Some versions are also launched from Ukrainian Mi‑8 helicopters that have been modified to fire NATO munitions
