MBDA courts Middle Eastern partner for Marte missile

Flight International ^ | 9 Apr 2013 | Luca Peruzzi

[sukhoi-30mki]

MBDA courts Middle Eastern partner for Marte missile

The on-going efforts of MBDA to expand the capabilities of its anti-ship missiles could reach an important milestone in the coming months through a potential partnership in the Middle East.

During the European consortium's 2012 results conference in Rome on 22 March, Antonio Perfetti, managing director of the MBDA's Italian branch and executive group director sales and business development, revealed that a Middle Eastern country is interested in the joint development of a Marte ER (extended range) version.

"The growth potential of [the] Marte anti-ship missile family has attracted the interest of a Arabian Gulf industrial partner, looking to jointly develop the new extended-range version of the family," said Perfetti.

MBDA

Versions of the Marte anti-ship missile equip types including the NH90 helicopter

While he declined to provide further detail, Flightglobal understands that the United Arab Emirates is the nation interested in a joint development of the new version, and that subsidiaries of state-owned investment company Tawazun Holding are to be involved in the programme.

Tawazun Precision Industries entered into an agreement with MBDA during the 2011 IDEX exhibition in Abu Dhabi to manufacture various components for the Marte family. The company produces the newly developed canister for the Mk2/N ship-launched version of the missile. This is part of the equipment of the UAE naval forces' Ghannatha fast boat, the first of which was recently delivered.

Tawazun Precision Industries also inked a supply agreement with Selex ES at the 2013 IDEX exhibition in February to manufacture various components for the Finmeccanica subsidiary's RF seekers, a key component in the MBDA Italy Marte/Otomat anti-ship missile family.

The Marte ER is planned to operate at ranges in excess of 100km (54nm) and be capable of being carried by medium-to-heavy helicopters. But it should also be possible to launch the equipment from fixed-wing combat and maritime patrol aircraft, have comparable life cycle costs to the current version and offer growth potential, including a man-in-the-loop and land attack strike with a heavier warhead.

MBDA Italy has already completed ground fitting-out trials of a Marte ER maquette with the Eurofighter Typhoon.

Aside from the extended range and naval (Mk2/N) versions, the Marte missile family includes the helicopter-based (Mk2/S) and aircraft-launched (Mk2/A) models. A dummy version of the latter has previously been dropped from an Airbus Military C295 maritime patrol aircraft.