Loïc Piedevache, Country Head, India, MBDA
MBDA is looking forward to another exciting and fruitful Defexpo, in line with our longstanding partnership strategy with India,”said Loïc Piedevache, Country Head, India, MBDA. As one would expect, MBDA is exhibiting a full range of its missiles and missile systems portfolio at Defexpo 2018 that could be of interest to India across the main defence domains: air, land and sea. “This Defexpo will also be particularly exciting as it will be the first time L&T MBDA Missile Systems Ltd, the joint venture formed with Larsen and Toubro in 2017, will exhibit at Defexpo. On this stand, the JV will be showcasing a number of products, including the ATGM5 and Exocet MM40 B3”.
Drawing on the next generation technologies of the MMP battlefield antitank weapon that recently entered service in France as an advanced successor to the highly successful MILAN, the ATGM5 will be designed and manufactured in India to meet India’s specific operational requirements. “It will be a true Indian Designed, Developed and Manufactured (IDDM) product, involving the transfer of next generation key technologies to India, boosting the Indian defence industry sector”.
Exocet MM40 Block 3 is the latest version of the famous Exocet missile family, and includes the replacement of the missile’s traditional rocket motor with a turbojet to extend the range of the system out to 200 km while the missile’s already excellent navigation system has seen further enhancements. As the Indian Navy already operates the SM 39, which is part of the Exocet family, it would be a logical step to also use Exocet in other operational areas. In doing so, it could provide significant operational, logistics and training advantages.
Exocet MM40 Block 3
MBDA will exhibit its high-performing Mistral man portable air defence system (MANPADS) “that has already performed exceptionally well in firing evaluation trials for India, more than meeting India’s operational requirements and what was demanded of the missile system in mountain, desert and maritime conditions”. As well as the operational advantages of the Mistral missile, there are major industrial advantages being offered if Mistral is selected for India’s VSHORAD requirement, with the missile to be fully manufactured under license in India, under a similar arrangement as for the highly successful production of MILAN in India. As Mistral has already been selected and integrated into the ATAM helicopter launch system for India helicopters (namely ALH and LCH), operating Mistral as a MANPADS system will offer major logistics and stock management advantages.
“For ground and naval air defence, we are exhibiting our VL MICA and Sea Ceptor systems, which befitting MBDA’s commonality, adapt and re-use product strategy share many similarities with the air launched MICA and ASRAAM weapon systems already operated by India, something that can provide further logistical advantages to the Indian Armed Forces”. Both VL MICA and Sea Ceptor are extremely high-performing air defence systems capable of defeating the most challenging of air threats, and the two systems principally differ in their launch mechanism. VL MICA utilises a traditional ‘hot’ launch, while Sea Ceptor uses a ‘soft’ launch technology that sees the missile ejected vertically into the air before the missile’s rocket motor ignites.
In the air domain, MBDA will be exhibiting the MICA missile, which is an integral part of the Indian Air Force’s Mirage 2000 upgrade programme and is also included in the IAF’s suite of weapons to arm its Rafale, thereby not only providing operational but also logistics and stock management advantages with the same weapon being fielded across two platforms. MICA 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. “We will also exhibit our revolutionary ramjet powered and network-enabled Meteor beyond visual range air-to-air missile, which is widely recognised as a game changer for air combat”. Key to this is Meteor’s throttleable ramjet engine, active radar seeker and datalink that combine to provide unmatched end-game speed and manoeuvrability at greatly extended ranges, resulting in its all-important ‘No-Escape Zone’ being several times greater than any other existing or planned BVR weapons. “The Indian Air Force is receiving this unrivalled system on its new Rafale aircraft, and at Defexpo, we will also be showcasing the missile for other platforms”.
MICA,
multi-mission air-to-air missile system
India has
also purchased MBDA’s ASRAAM air dominance weapon for its New Generation Close
Combat Missile programme, and MBDA will be exhibiting ASRAAM on both the initial
Jaguar platform, and for other platforms such as Hawk. With its large rocket
motor and clean aerodynamic design ASRAAM has unrivalled speed and resultant
aerodynamic manoeuvrability and range, ASRAAM gives it a high kinematic
capability that delivers superior end-game performance for within visual range
air combat.
For both the
Hawk and other platforms, we will also be exhibiting other potential armaments,
including the high-precision Brimstone strike weapon, which would give these,
or other, platforms an exceptional ability to engage massed armoured formations
or conduct pinpoint attacks in collaterally constrained environments.
“For
long-range strike we will also exhibit our SCALP and SmartGlider weapons that
are optimised to counter anti-access strategies and other emerging battlespace
threats. SCALP provides the ability to strike at the best defended and
protected targets at the longest of ranges, while SmartGlider forms a family of
all-upround glider weapons, with folding wings and a range of over 100 km
allowing the combat platform to stay at safe distance from the enemy defences.
With the smallest member of the SmartGlider family being just 120 kg, and a
Rafale can carry as many as 18 – allowing the destruction of multiple targets
or the saturation of even the most complex air defence systems”.