MBDA said it has “frozen the general definition” of its navalized, anti-air SIMBAD-RC turret, and that production of the first prototype launched at the end of summer 2010 will be available for the first ground-based dynamic tests before the end of this year.
“Navies throughout the world are witnessing a change in their operational scenarios and are having to take into consideration new asymmetric threats,” Antoine Bouvier, CEO of MBDA, said in a statement. “With this new program, MBDA is showing that it is fully in tune with a market that is changing more and more”.
During the course of 2011, this prototype should in turn be mounted on the ship of an overseas partner in order to carry out a full program of tests, the company said. These will enable the functionality and performance of this new version of the twin-MISTRAL missile launcher to be validated.
SIMBAD-RC is a weapon system comprising one or two twin-MISTRAL missile (very short range anti-air missile) turrets, remotely controlled from a small operating console sheltered from bad weather conditions.
It is capable of ensuring the anti-air defense of all types of vessels, especially small patrol boats and large logistics ships, against a wide range of threats ranging from anti-ship missiles and combat aircraft to smaller surface threats such as fast inshore attack craft.