August 10, 2024 | International, Land
Missile Defense Agency to pick hypersonic interceptor vendor this year
The MDA will soon conclude a competition to develop an interceptor capable of defeating hypersonic threats in the glide phase of flight.
November 30, 2018 | International, Land
With nod to Paris, MBDA claims lead on EU tank-killing missile
COLOGNE, Germany — Missile-maker MBDA is banking on a new European Union project to help boost wider adoption of its Missile Moyenne Portée anti-tank weapon on the continent.
The confidence by executives stems from last week's European Council approval of a Beyond-Line-of-Sight Land Battlefield Missile System. The project is one of 34 efforts under the union's new Permanent Structured Cooperation scheme, or PESCO. The framework is meant to unify military capabilities of the member nations with an eye toward establishing the EU as a military player on the world stage.
The new missile project offers an glimpse into PESCO's nascent process for turning political ambitions into actual hardware made by national vendors. Such is the case here, says MBDA, which released a statement saying its MMP anti-tank weapon had been “endorsed” by the EU even though the official, one-paragraph project description makes no mention of a specific weapon.
Company executives told Defense News that the MMP is what defense officials in France — which has the project lead together with Belgium and Cyprus — had in mind from the start when offering the project under an EU umbrella.
The weapon, they argue, is the natural choice because it is already in service with French forces and because it is the sole wholly European option available. (MBDA is a joint venture of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo.)
A spokeswoman for the French delegation to the EU in Brussels did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
The guided MMP, which boasts a range of 4 kilometers, can be fired by dismounted soldiers or from vehicles. Its competitors include the American-made Javelin and variants of the Spike, designed by Israel's Rafael. The Israelis market their offering through the Germany-based company Eurospike, and the missiles are produced in that country.
But MBDA argues the “design authority” for both competitors lies outside of Europe, which means the joint venture would be ineligible for a role — and funding — under PESCO or its associated funding stream, the proposed €13 billion (U.S. $15 billion) European Defence Fund.
It remains to be seen whether the apparent PESCO blessing can help propel the MMP weapon to greater popularity in European armies. There is already lower-hanging fruit included in the partnership with project co-sponsor Belgium: Brussels plans to buy a new fleet of armored combat vehicles from France's Nexter, a portion of which stands to be equipped with an anti-tank weapon.
That's where EU funding support could come into play. Players of any PESCO project can get EU co-financing for the modification work required to make one weapon interoperable for several partner forces.
On paper, the EU missile project has ambitious goals. The weapon eventually chosen — presumably the MMP — “is intended to be integrated on an extensive variety of platforms,” a PESCO project overview states. “The project includes joint training and formation aspects. A dedicated ‘users club' is envisioned develop a common European doctrine on BLOS firing.”
Industry officials expect an initial kickoff meeting of the partner nations to hammer out a way ahead, though the timing is unclear. At that point, there could be a formal commitment to the MMP weapon.
MBDA, for its part, is painting a purely altruistic picture of what's to come for the missile. “France is opening a collaborative approach for how to use it,” a spokesman told Defense News.
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July 16, 2020 | International, Aerospace
National Reconnaissance Office launches “revolutionary” satellites from Virginia
Nathan Strout The National Reconnaissance Office successfully launched four classified payloads into orbit July 15 from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility — the agency's first dedicated launch from the Virginia facility. NRO is in charge of acquiring, launching and operating the nation's intelligence satellites, and while the agency does not typically reveal the details or purpose of its classified satellites, the agency's director noted that the four payloads will demonstrate revolutionary capabilities. “NROL-129 represents a collaboration between the NRO and our industry partners to design, build, launch and operate a system of satellites that will demonstrate revolutionary capabilities of value to the nation and our allies,” said NRO Director Chris Scolese. “Despite facing challenges in 2020, we have found new and better ways to collaborate with our partners from a distance, relentlessly pursuing our mission and denying sanctuary to our adversaries.” The four NRO-built payloads — dubbed NROL-129 — were launched aboard a Northrop Grumman Minotaur IV rocket at 9:46 a.m. ET. This was NRO's first launch with a Northrop Grumman Minotaur IV, a rocket capable of delivering payloads of up to 3,814 lbs into low Earth orbit. The first three stages of the four stage, 78-foot tall rocket utilize solid rocket motors taken from decommissioned Peacekeeper ICBMs. The launch was acquired under the U.S. Air Force's Orbital/Suborbital Program-3, a contract mechanism built to take advantage of the growing commercial small launch sector. This was NRO's third launch of 2020 and its first to take place on U.S. soil. The previous two launches, taking place respectively in January and June, were launched aboard Rocket Lab Electron rockets from the company's New Zealand facility. The agency's next mission, NROL-44, is set to launch in August from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/space/2020/07/15/national-reconnaissance-office-launches-revolutionary-satellites-from-virginia/
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January 10, 2022 | International, Aerospace
Israeli subsidiary inks first public deal with UAE for work on A330 aircraft
The Elbit Systems subsidiary in the United Arab Emirates has signed a $53 million deal to supply direct infrared countermeasures and airborne electronic warfare systems for A330 tanker aircraft.