The French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA) has conducted the first flight test of the medium-range missile (MMP) at its Techniques Terrestres site in Bourges, France.
Supported by the French Army and MBDA France, the trial successfully confirmed the missile’s enhanced accuracy in locking onto a target that was hidden from view at launch at a distance of more than 4,000m.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Developed under a MBDA-funded programme since 2009, the MMP is a lightweight, next-generation surface-attack missile designed for destruction of both stationary and moving ground targets, including tanks, armoured and non-armoured vehicles and infrastructures with minimum collateral damage.
It can be fired from portable firing posts, battlefield vehicles and army aviation platforms, and features fire-and-forget and man-in-the-loop capabilities, allowing operators to immediately move to another position after firing and accurately neutralise various types of targets.
Scheduled to replace the French Army’s existing MILAN wire-guided anti-tank system, the MMP forms one of the French Defence Ministry’s new programmes within the Military Planning Act 2014 to 2019, which aims to modernise the army.
MBDA is set to supply 400 launchers and 2,850 MMP missiles to the army as part of a contract awarded by the DGA in December 2013.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataThe missile is scheduled to undergo additional tests programmed by the DGA Techniques Terrestres during the first quarter of this year. Deliveries to the French Army are expected to start in 2017.
Image: The MMP missile can be fired from portable firing posts, battlefield vehicles and army aviation platforms. Photo: © MBDA – Isabelle Chapuis.
