Indian Defence Review

Meteor

MBDA’s stand at DEFEXPO 2014 will be divided into four distinct areas: ground based air defence, combat aircraft weapons, maritime superiority and battlefield systems. Each area will feature the latest advances in their respective domains and together will demonstrate MBDA’s unique status as the only company in the sector with a product catalogue capable of meeting the guided weapons requirements of all three armed services.

With discussions having been concluded and a decision expected shortly to proceed with a short range surface to air weapon to fill a recognized capability gap within the Indian Air Force and Navy, a full scale model of the SR-SAM missile will take pride of place on the company’s stand. Often referred to as MAITRI, this programme sees MBDA supporting the DRDO and represents the cornerstone of MBDA’s long term partnership and cooperation strategy in India. Displayed for the first time in India will be a weapon system that represents a major advance for the battlefield. This weapon, MMP is being developed as a highly advanced successor to the successful MILAN with a range of important features placing it well beyond the capabilities of the competition.

Anti-Air Defence

MISTRAL has proven itself a major success story with a 96% success rate in all firings. This highly versatile IR missile that is already being delivered to India for the ALH Rudra can be deployed from a number of land and ship based launch systems. With a competition currently underway to meet India’s VSHORAD requirement, at DEFEXPO 2014 MBDA will be displaying the MISTRAL MANPADS system. Easy to use, quick to set up, deploy, fire and reload, MISTRAL MANPADS was designed from the outset to be a highly portable tripod mounted system. Easily managed by one operator for the tripod and another for the missiles, the system has a distinct advantage over beam-riding systems in that its heat sensitive seeker allows the missile to be fully autonomous, a vital capability in dealing with close in, manoeuvring threats. The system can also be mounted on vehicles.

MBDA Aster

SR-SAM (MAITRI) and ASTER models on MBDA’s stand will underline the company’s heritage and world leading status in the all-important surface to air defence system sector. SR-SAM is of course an Indian DRDO project which MBDA is proud to be supporting as it reinforces the partnership model which the company is advancing within the country. ASTER, in operational service in both its land and naval launch variants, represents both MBDA’s international cooperative programme management skills and its technical ability. Able to claim Europe’s first successful intercept of a target representing a ballistic missile threat, ASTER has established a clear benchmark throughout the defence sector.

Combat Aircraft Weapon Systems

Today’s combat pilot is often called on to carry out multiple roles. MBDA can provide the latest generation of weapons to not only ensure air supremacy but also to carry out precision strikes against a wide variety of static and fast moving surface targets. With the Indian Air Force enhancing the operational capabilities of its fleet of Jaguar and Mirage aircraft while planning for the arrival of the Rafale MMRCA, DEFEXPO 2014 offers MBDA the ideal opportunity to showcase its extensive range of air-to-air and air-to-ground guided weapon systems.

MICA has been ordered for the IAF’s Mirage upgrade. It is also a weapon system closely associated with the Rafale. Showcased on MBDA’s stand, this is the only missile in the world featuring two interoperable seekers (active radar and imaging infrared) to cover the spectrum from close-in dogfight to long beyond visual range. Its ability to fly out to BVR in passive mode before the seeker locks on in the final stages of the end game has earned it the sobriquet “silent killer” as the target has little time to react or to deploy effective countermeasures.

MBDA's MICA Missile on the wing tip (Photograph © Michel Hans)

ASRAAM has been proposed for the IAF’s Jaguar bomber fleet which is undergoing upgrades to extend the aircraft’s life through to the end of the decade. ASRAAM’s speed not only provides safe separation from the Jaguar’s above-wing pylons, it also guarantees “first shot first kill” to avoid getting involved in a dogfight. As the Jaguar is a low-flying aircraft, threats will most likely come from more agile fighters with altitude superiority, ASRAAM offers a major advantage here in its unmatched “snap-up” capability, its ability to rapidly divert upwards once fired. All the tests carried out have been positive and ASRAAM is ready to provide the Jaguar with an effective and crucial self-defence capability.

Eurofighter Typhoon IPA 1 flies with a Meteor Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile. Credit: BAE Systems.

METEOR is a six-European nation programme that will provide the key future BVR air-to-air armament for Europe’s new generation of combat platforms. This missile’s very long range combined with its ramjet-induced speed, result in a weapon that has an unequalled No Escape Zone. In fact METEOR has been designed to be many times superior to the most sophisticated current and emerging MRAAM threat. The advanced technology contained within METEOR controls speed and fuel consumption throughout the flight envelope. This ensures that maximum power and hence agility are maintained at the extremes of range where other MRAAMs have long since ceased being effective. As well as showing off MBDA’s mastery of the most advanced technologies, Meteor is vivid proof of the company’s skill in managing international cooperative programmes.

BRIMSTONE goes from strength to strength with recent trials clearly demonstrating the unmatched capabilities of this weapon in meeting the operational challenges of today. These trials involved firing five missiles at a series of targets moving at speeds of up to 70 mph from a variety of launch conditions, including long range and high off-boresight. The test scenario also simulated a cluttered road environment, as typically encountered during recent conflicts. Every shot achieved a direct hit on the target. BRIMSTONE has won international acclaim following its successful combat deployment during recent operations in Libya and Afghanistan. Precision surface strikes are a major feature of today’s air force mission and BRIMSTONE with its dual millimetric wave radar and semi-active laser (SAL) seeker gives the pilot a great deal of flexibility. A salvo of BRIMSTONES can be launched in fire-and-forget mode or, should man-in-the loop be required because of complex operational conditions, the SAL mode can be selected. Significantly, as MARITIME BRIMSTONE, the missile has proven its capabilities as a surface-to-surface weapon. Whether air or surface launched, BRIMSTONE is the only weapon currently available that can engage not only fast moving land targets but also swarming FIACs (Fast Inshore Attack Craft) a fast emerging and worrying threat in coastal waters.

DEEP STRIKE is a major requirement for a modern air force. The ability to deliver a precision strike against high value targets such as well protected control bunkers/centres, key infrastructures and military installations from a safe stand-off distance is crucial in the early days of a conflict as was shown in Iraq and Libya. At DEFEXPO 2014, MBDA is displaying two world-leading deep-strike cruise missiles, the TAURUS KEPD 350 and SCALP/STORM SHADOW. Both weapon systems are in service and have proven their unerring and unmatched ability to combine very long range with devastating target effect.

Battlefield Systems

PARS 3 LR is being delivered to the German Army to provide its Tiger helicopters with the capability of targeting and defeating a wide range of mobile and stationary ground targets from latest generation armour-protected vehicles to bunkers with pinpoint accuracy. For pilot safety, the fire-and-forget missiles, once launched, navigate autonomously to their respective targets without requiring further input from the gunner thereby allowing the helicopter to quit its position should there be a danger. For India’s ALH Dhruv or “Rudra”, MBDA has sourced an Indian partner to develop a special twin launcher which will be displayed at the exhibition. MBDA has been working for some time already with HAL in equipping this helicopter with the MISTRAL ATAM self-defence air-to-air system.

ATAM has been delivered to India to equip the weaponised version of the Advanced Light Helicopter, the HAL Rudra. The system is based on two launchers each deploying two MBDA MISTRAL missiles. Given the wide range of roles that the Rudra will have to undertake, ATAM will provide the helicopter’s crew with a weapon that is not only easy to use but one that that can be operated in the whole flight envelope from nap of the earth to 15,000ft and at flight speeds from hovering to up to 200 knots

MMP is a vital addition to MBDA’s range of battlefield systems as it will provide a worthy successor to the highly successful MILAN (the anti-tank system currently in service with the Indian and French Armies and that has been sold to 40 other armies around the world). Drawing on experiences gained from recent conflicts which have shown that delivering effects without collateral damage is a major operational requirement, MBDA has been developing MMP which will feature both “man in the loop” and “fire and forget” capabilities. It can be fired from confined spaces and against non-line of sight targets. Suitable for a wide range of battlefield targets (from tanks to infrastructures) and platforms (from portable firing posts to vehicles and army aviation platforms), MMP’s architecture and technologies position the 4km range missile well ahead of the competition. These advantages have already been recognised, with the result that a contract has been placed by the DGA (the French defence procurement agency) in early December 2013 for 400 launchers and 2,850 missiles for the French army. MBDA expects significant international interest in this new generation combat weapon.

MBDA's CAMM missile fired from Sea Ceptor system

MILAN has proven its effectiveness in combat and continues to be the mainstay of many armies’ anti-tank and close combat support capabilities. For the Indian Army, the MILAN missile is manufactured under license by Bharat Dynamics Limited and as such represents a significant aspect of MBDA’s long standing industrial partnership with India that goes back to the 1970s. India has recently ordered new stocks of the MILAN 2T variant of the missile which features a tandem charge for defeating modern ERA equipped tanks. The missile is being displayed at DEFEXPO 2014 with the FLAME firing post developed and produced in-country.

Maritime Superiority

Exocet

EXOCET probably ranks as the world’s best known anti-ship missile. It is certainly well known in India where the submarine variant, SM39, is being delivered to the Indian Navy to arm its Scorpene submarines. The AM39 version can be launched from Maritime Patrol Aircraft, strike fighters such as the Rafale as well as medium to heavyweight helicopters. Features such as low signature, sea-skimming flight at very low altitudes, late seeker activation, enhanced target discrimination and ECCM combine to make this a redoubtable weapon indeed. In its Block2 Mod2 latest evolution it is now fully compliant with the latest generation of aircraft platforms. The MM40 Block 3 variant within the EXOCET family, is a 200km class weapon suitable for launch from ships or from coastal batteries. Already in service, this latest generation EXOCET features 3D waypoints, low sea-skimming flight profile and the ability to strike coastal land targets as well as ships.

MARTE is a family of fixed and rotary wing and ship-launched anti-ship missile weapon systems designed to meet operational requirements in complex littoral environments and blue water scenarios. At DEFEXPO 2014 MBDA will be displaying MARTE MK2/S on a NH-90 helicopter which is in contention for the Indian Navy’s MRH helicopter requirement. Also on display will be MARTE ER, evidence of MBDA’s skills in evolving the capabilities of an existing weapon. The high sub-sonic MARTE ER is equipped with a turbo-jet engine giving it a range of well over 120km, thus enabling it to engage enemy vessels well over the horizon. Other enhancements include an optimized terminal guidance system and 4D waypoints including altitude and time for simultaneous time on target attack. MARTE ER offers rotary and fixed wing aircraft, ships and land based coastal defence systems a significant operational advantage.

During a series of joint MBDA-Airbus Military trials carried out in 2013, a MARTE MK2/S instrumented missile was successfully released from the under wing pylon of a CN295 Maritime Patrol Aircraft, thereby validating the missile’s aerodynamic integration on the platform. MARTE MK2 and MARTE ER share a high degree of commonality providing the user not only exceptional operational flexibility but also advantages in terms of life cycle costs.