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MBDA's Next-Generation Naval Missile System Prepares for Global Success Artist's impression of MBDA' Common Anti-Air Modular Missile (CAMM) in flight. (Image: MBDA) 14:33 GMT, September 13, 2011 MBDA’s Future Local Area Air Defence System (FLAADS-Maritime) programme is achieving key development milestones that exemplify the high maturity and global market potential of the system. The FLAADS-M system will equip the Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigates and future Global Combat Ship and can easily be integrated onto a range of alternative naval platforms. The heart of FLAADS-M is the Common Anti-Air Modular Missile (CAMM), a high performance missile intended to deal with...

AIRSHOW - France eyes sea-launched cruise missiles 1:00am IST By John Irish LE BOURGET, France (Reuters) - The French navy will join the United States and Britain in using ship-based cruise missiles by 2015 after delivery of its first batch from European missile maker MBDA, a company executive said on Monday. Until now, the Tomahawk missile has been the main one of its type launched from navy vessels and submarines, but MBDA has been working on developing a version for the French navy since 2006. Speaking on the sidelines of the Paris Air Show, Lionel Mazenq, a systems engineer for...

Storm Shadow, Saudi & the MTCR By Jeffrey | 31 May 2011 When France sold the Storm Shadow/SCALP cruise missile to the UAE (under the name Black Shaheen) in the 1990s, the United States strongly objected that the sale violated the voluntary guidelines under the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). France sold the missile anyway, but the US successfully pushed to tighten up MTCR guidelines in 2002 to prevent further transfers like this. So, when news leaked last year that the UK would sell the same missile to Saudi Arabia, I expected a hue and cry. Instead, nothing but crickets....

'Numerous export enquiries' for Meteor missile, says UK MoD By Craig Hoyle With development work on MBDA's Meteor entering its final year, the UK Ministry of Defence has confirmed that the beyond visual-range air-to-air missile has attracted strong international interest. "Meteor has been the subject of numerous export enquiries from around the world, with some nations considering the possibility of making an order," the MoD's Defence Equipment and Support organisation said in its Desider publication. Being developed for partner nations France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the UK as a replacement for the Raytheon AIM-120 AMRAAM, the Meteor weapon system...

Interest Grows In Dual-Mode Brimstone Apr 19, 2011 By Robert Wall wall@aviationweek.com LONDON The operational success the U.K. Royal Air Force has had with MBDA’s dual-mode Brimstone is driving U.S. and French interest in the munition, says the RAF’s assistant chief of the air staff, Air Vice Marshal Baz North. The dual-mode weapon has been among the main munitions the RAF Tornado GR4 has been relying on during Libya operations. The initial discussions with the French have begun, although they are at an early stage. Still unclear is which French and U.S. platforms might launch the weapons. Dual-mode Brimstone is...

Dual-Mode Brimstone targeted at fast boat threat Tuesday, 22 February, 2011 European missile house MBDA (Hall 7 Stand A10) has unveiled plans for its Dual-Mode Brimstone (DMB) missile to take on an anti-surface warfare role to counter swarming fast inshore attack craft (FIAC) threats. An enhanced derivative of MBDA’s Brimstone anti-armour missile, DMB was conceived to meet a UK urgent operational requirement (UOR) for a high-precision close air support weapon to be used against both static and moving ground targets. MBDA met this requirement by developing a dual-mode seeker, combining millimetric wave (mmW) radar and semiactive laser (SAL) techniques, with...

France Orders 200 Air-to-air Missile to Equip Rafale 2011-01-04 01:19:17 Xinhua Web Editor: Jiang France has ordered 200 air-to-air Meteor missiles to equip its Rafale fighters serving in the air force and navy, the defense ministry said on Monday in a statement. Defense Minister Alain Juppe welcomed the order of the long- range missile designed for French jet Rafale under the cooperation between France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Spain and Britain, according to the ministry. The French General Direction for Ordnance (DGA) has awarded the order to multinational missile producer MBDA. "The first Meteor missile will be delivered to the French...

France qualifies new Exocet missile Published: Dec. 23, 2010 at 12:15 PM PARIS, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- MBDA's Block 3 version of the MM40 Exocet anti-ship missile has been given its operational qualification by the French Defense Ministry's armaments agency. The Direction generale de l'armement, or DGA, said approval was given Dec. 6 and the first four missiles were formally accepted Dec. 16 by DGA's quality control department. An initial batch of 45 missiles, ordered in 2008 from prime contractor MBDA, will be delivered to the French navy between the end of this year and mid-2013. The original version of...

MBDA Delivers 600th TAURUS KEPD 350 to German Luftwaffe An Eurofighter of the Luftwaffe equipped with Taurus missiles. 18:51 GMT, December 6, 2010 TAURUS System GmbH (TSG), a subsidiary of LFK-Lenkflugkörpersysteme GmbH (MBDA Deutschland) and Saab Dynamics, has delivered the 600th missile to the German Federal Office of Defence Technology and Procurement (BWB). The delivery of the 600th missile marks the successful conclusion of the series order. “The TAURUS order was of decisive importance to our organisation. This contract played a major role in the positive development of MBDA Deutschland. My special thanks go to our customers who supported our...

PICTURE: MBDA reveals clipped-fin Meteor for F-35 By Stephen Trimble MBDA has revealed a slightly modified Meteor that would allow four of the beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles to be stored inside the Lockheed Martin F-35. A miniature Meteor mock-up featuring four clipped fins appeared for the first time in the company's display at the Air Force Association's Air & Space Conference and Technology Exposition in Washington DC. The missile's total fin area is reduced by roughly 20% compared with the original design, says Rob Thornley, MBDA sales and business development executive. The new shape allows the Meteors to squeeze into the...

India’s concerns about increasing military aid to Pakistan might not bother the Obama administration but the Sarkozy government is apparently taking note. A report in French newspaper Le Monde claimed that France has decided to suspend the sale of electronics and missiles under pressure from India and due to concerns about Pakistan’s finances and for protecting sensitive technology. The missiles, according to the report, were part of the first segment of a 6 billion euro contract. “It’s a deal that’s not ready from the Pakistani side,” the report quoted a source at President Nicolas Sarkozy’s office. “For now, the state...

Antiship Missiles Engage Diverse Targets May 6, 2009 By Bill Sweetman Surface warfare is in the news as navies tackle pirates off the Somali coast. The impact of piracy reflects the importance of sea lanes to a global economy, and navies are reequipping to deal with high- and low-level threats. One result is the emergence of a variety of antiship missiles. DTI has covered Chinese, Russian and Indian developments, but the rest of the world is also responding to changing threats. At the U.S. Navy League exhibition in Washington this month, Raytheon Missile Systems will unveil an upgrade to the...

Picture: Storm Shadow cruise missile tested for Royal Saudi Air Force Tornadoes BAE Systems appears to have reached an advanced stage in its programme to upgrade the capabilities of Saudi Arabia’s Panavia Tornado interdictor strike aircraft, with flight testing now underway of a trials aircraft carrying MBDA’s Storm Shadow cruise missile. Tornado Sustainment Programme aircraft ZH917 is pictured at BAE’s Warton site in Lancashire on 2 April carrying two Storm Shadow rounds, including one painted in high-visibility markings for possible test release purposes. BAE declines to comment on the current flight test activity, which is being conducted as part of...

Raytheon and MBDA Battle for Air-to-Air Missile Market Share (Source: Forecast International; issued Feb. 5, 2007) NEWTOWN, Connecticut --- "Raytheon may have a lead in this market, but MBDA is not just going to roll over and die," said Larry Dickerson, Missile Analyst for Forecast International. "These companies are nearing a statistical dead heat, with billions of dollars' worth of future contracts up for grabs," Dickerson said. The market for air-to-air missiles will be worth $16.1 billion over the next 10 years. "Raytheon leads this market, thanks to the sales performance of the AIM-9 Sidewinder and AIM-120 AMRAAM, and the...

MBDA Denies Report by the Debka.com Website (Source: MBDA; issued Oct. 19, 2006) (Issued in French only; unofficial translation by defense-aerospace.com) A report published on the Internet, and reproduced by several Italian daily newspapers, claims that “a battery of Aster 15 missiles” could be supplied to Lebanon to help this country defend its territory against air incursions, notably by Israel, and alleges that talks are ongoing between Italian and Lebanese authorities on this subject. Beyond the political aspects of these allegations, which are not for MBDA to comment upon and which have been formally denied by the Italian Ministry of...

European missile major scouting for software developers By Sandeep Dikshit BANGALORE, FEB 9. The European missile systems major, MBDA, plans to make India its fifth major centre of operations. The company already has a strong presence in France, Italy and the U.K. and its impending merger with a German company will give it a foothold in a fourth European country. India is the next country in its sights, said company officials. As many as 30,000 MBDA's anti-tank missile Milan have been produced under licence by the state owned Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) and some have even been exported. While seeking...