The French Defence Procurement Agency (Direction Générale de l’Armement – DGA) has successfully completed the first Akeron LP missile trials aboard the French Army’s Tiger helicopter.
The latest milestone was announced by the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en matière d’ARmement – OCCAR) on 28 April.
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The test was carried out as part of the Future Tactical Air-to-Surface Missile (MAST-F) programme.
It was conducted by the DGA’s Flight Tests division (Essais en vol – EV) in Cazaux, France.
As part of the flight tests in April, a Tiger multi role combat helicopter was equipped with launcher and mock-up missile systems for collecting information and environmental data.
OCCAR informed that all the tests were performed and completed successfully. The test adheres to the initially proposed timeline of the MAST-F Programme.
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By GlobalDataThe programme aims to develop a new generation Akeron LP air-to-ground missile system for the European medium altitude long endurance (MALE) remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS) or uncrewed aerial vehicle and for Tiger helicopter.
This new high precision striking capability will be used for meeting the future warfare challenges.
The latest flight test follows the first lethal package test conducted at DGA’s Techniques Terrestres in Bourges in December last year and in March and April 2023.
Prior to that, MBDA also completed the first missile prototype firing test of the missile system in Bourges, France in December 2022.
The development and production contract for this programme was awarded to MBDA in November 2020.
Akeron LP offers a range of over 8km from helicopters and nearly 20km from RPAS.
Once delivered, the new Akeron LP multi-purpose warhead will be deployed to neutralise a wide range of stationary and moving targets, such as highly protected main battle tanks, light military installations as well as small boats.
