MBDA's MICA Missile on the wing tip (Photograph © Michel Hans)
At Aero India 2013, MBDA will again demonstrate its unique status as the only company with a product catalogue capable of meeting the guided weapons requirements of all three armed services: air, land and sea. Prominently displayed will be a model of the SR-SAM missile which sees MBDA supporting the DRDO in advancing a solution for the MAITRI short range air defence programme. Partnership will also be a strong theme as MBDA moves to deepen its longstanding relationship with the Indian defence sector.
With the Indian Air Force looking to enhance the operational capabilities of its fleet of Jaguar and Mirage aircraft, combined with its recent selection of the future MMRCA, Aero India offers MBDA the ideal opportunity to showcase its extensive range of air-to-air and air-to-ground guided weapon systems. Today’s combat pilot has a more demanding job than ever now that the typical mission has become multi-role. MBDA can provide the pilot with the necessary equipment to not only ensure air supremacy but also to carry out precision strikes against a wide variety of static and fast moving surface targets.
Fixed Wing Air Launched Weapons
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.
ASRAAM is being discussed as a potential weapon for the IAF’s Jaguar bomber fleet which is undergoing upgrades to extend the aircraft’s life through to the end of the decade. The Jaguar’s mission is as a bomber but it also needs an effective self-defence capability. 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.
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 nesures 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.
DUAL MODE BRIMSTONE (DMB) 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 DMB with its dual millimetric wave radar and semi-active laser (SAL) seeker gives the pilot a great deal of flexibility. A salvo of DMBs 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, DMB is the only weapon currently available that can engage fast moving land and sea targets with high precision. It also offers a major operational advantage in being able to deal with the swarming FIAC (Fast Inshore Attack Craft) which has become a fast emerging and worrying threat in coastal waters.
DEEP STRIKE is a major requirement for a modern air force. The ability to deliver from a safe stand-off distance, a precision strike against high value targets such as well protected control bunkers/centres, key infrastructures and military installations is crucial in the early days of a conflict as was shown in Iraq and Libya. At Aero India, 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.
Weapons For Helicopters
MARTE ER is proof of how MBDA specialises in system modularity and product evolution to meet growing customer requirements. This is typically the case with the MARTE family of missiles with its ship and helicopter launched variants. MARTE ER is the latest proposed evolution to this family and will benefit from many of the technologies within the MARTE MK2/S system that has already been integrated and qualified on the medium-range NH90 helicopter. MARTE ER will see the addition of a turbo-engine motor to take the missile’s range out to over 100km. With the Indian Navy looking for weapons for the Sea King Mid Life Update, the MRH and the IMRH, the 300kg MARTE ER should be a major talking point during the show regarding its potential as a common missile solution for all light anti-ship applications.
EXOCET probably ranks as the world’s best known anti-ship missile. It is certainly well known in India where the submarine variant, SM39, has been ordered 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 digital interfaces as was proven in a September 2012 test firing that qualified the missile on the French Navy’s Rafale F3.
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.
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 Dhruv can be deployed from a number of land and ship based launch systems. At Aero India, MBDA will be displaying the MISTRAL MANPADS system which is being proposed for India’s VSHORAD requirement. 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. Combined with MBDA’s IMCP control centre, up to 12 units can be linked and even networked into a wider defence architecture.
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 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 in both its ground based and naval based air defence system variants has established a clear benchmark.
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