MBDA completes second test launch of MMP combat missile

[BLACKEAGLE]

MBDA has completed the second round of testing of the medium-range missile (MMP) at the French Defence Procurement Agency's (DGA) Techniques Terrestres site in Bourges, France.

Conducted against a steel target positioned at an intermediate range, the trial ensured optimal execution of all aspects of the test, including launch, flight trajectory and target impact, with full conformation of the simulations

Testing was carried out in lock-on-before-launch mode (fire-and-forget), using the missile seeker's colour TV channel, and completes another stage in the analysis of MMP's deployment envelope.

Jointly conducted by DGA, the French Army and MBDA France earlier this month, the first flight of the missile successfully confirmed its enhanced accuracy in locking onto a target hidden from view at launch at a distance of more than 4,000m.

To date, MBDA has successfully demonstrated a range of main features in flight, including firing at long and intermediate ranges using two types of missile trajectory, seeker guidance through the visible TV and non-cooled infrared channels, as well as the target lock-on before and after launch, among others.

"The MMP is a lightweight, next-generation surface-attack missile."
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.

The MMP, which will replace the French Army's existing MILAN wire-guided anti-tank systems, is scheduled to undergo additional tests programmed by the DGA Techniques Terrestres later this year.

MBDA is set to supply 400 launchers and 2,850 MMP missiles to the French army as part of a contract awarded in December 2013, with deliveries are expected to start in 2017.

MBDA completes second test launch of MMP combat missile - Army Technology