MBDA demonstrates MMP missile’s drone guided BLOS engagement capability

Vergennes · Jan 23, 2021

MBDA has successfully demonstrated the Missile Moyenne Portée’s (MMP) drone-guided beyond line-of-sight (BLOS) engagement capability.

The capability demonstration was carried out at the Canjuers military camp in the south of France.

It was supported by the French Army and the Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA).

MBDA military adviser Philippe Gouyon said: “This firing also concludes a year-long tactical evaluation conducted with the Army and Novadem exploring all the capabilities of the system and thus, allows MBDA to propose an MMP / drone combination that meets the needs of remote observation and target designation of contact units.

“These experiments notably included real-time engagement simulations in virtual reality but also combining, in the field, real equipment (drones, weapon terminal) and MMP simulators implemented by Land Forces units.

“We are very satisfied with the results of this work, which made it possible to understand the forces’ needs to finalise the system carrying the BLOS capability for dismounted combat.”

During the demonstration, the MMP successfully hit a tank target that was situated beyond the missile’s visual range.

The firing was possible with target designation made by a Novadem NX70 drone, which was linked to the weapon’s terminal via radio.

The drone identified, detected and transferred the target’s coordinates to the MMP firing station which in turn executed the direct hit.

The new capability is being developed under an MBDA coordinated project LynkEUs for mounted and dismounted forces. It is managed in close partnership with the French, Belgian and Cypriot armed forces.

LynkEUs contributes to the objectives of the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) BLOS capability project.

Last November, MBDA was selected by the French DGA for the development of the Future Tactical Air-to-Surface Missile (MAST-F) programme.