Alkan LCIII decoy launcher

Mathll · August 24, 2026, 9:56pm

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Hello everyone and welcome to this new suggestion.

Today I’m presenting a new piece of equipment for French aircraft: the Alkan LCIII decoy launcher.

France has long had a unique relationship with the integration of countermeasures on its combat aircraft. While most countries began designing aircraft with integrated decoy launchers as early as the 1970s, France waited until the 1980s and the Mirage 2000 to have an aircraft with a dedicated system, preferring in the meantime to integrate countermeasure pods (like the Corail pod on the Mirage F1) or do nothing at all.

One of the pods designed and used is the LCIII pod developed by Alkan. This pod was conceived during the 1960s (tests in 1965) and was designed to be installed under the wings of naval aircraft, particularly the Etendard series.

The LCIII consists of a body that can house either 40mm countermeasures manufactured by Lacroix or 74mm countermeasures manufactured by Ruggieri. The maximum number of countermeasures is 104.

Tests were conducted on Etendard IV P aircraft loaned to the CEV (Flight Test Center) during 1965 and 1966, thus qualifying this pod on the aircraft and its variants. A pod of this type can therefore be carried under the outer wing pylons (one pod on each side). (In practice, this pod is very similar to the one already found in the game in the first Buccaneer)

The Alkan LCIII was primarily used by the Etendard IVP and then the Etendard IVPM during the 1980s and 1990s, as these aircraft did not have integrated countermeasures. The Super Etendard also received the capability to carry this pod, as it did not have onboard countermeasures until the arrival of the S4 standard in the late 1990s.

The pod will be gradually withdrawn from service as the aircraft capable of carrying it are withdrawn from active service in the 1990s, with the Super Etendard receiving their countermeasures pods at point 0 and the Etendard IV PM being withdrawn from service in the 1990s.