MBDA is taking its latest missile–the MMP (Missile Moyenne Portée)–that the company calls the first and only fifth generation land combat missile to the Eurosatory trade show in Paris next week.
Initially intended for dismounted troops, MMP will replace the Milan and Javelin anti-tank missiles in service with the French Army and special forces from 2017.
In December, the MMP program was approved by the French DGA (Direction Générale de l’Armement). MBDA received a contract for the development and production of 2,850 missiles and 400 MMP firing posts.
Photo: MBDA
MMP is a totally new weapon system, MBDA said in a statement. MMP is a response to requirements that were written to include lessons learned over the past decade and more of conflict. Such requirements include: firing from confined spaces, fire-and-forget, and self-guidance with a man-in-the-loop facility.
Based on these requirements, MBDA defined a totally new system that calls on new technologies that have never before been applied by any other manufacturer in the portable land combat missile sector, the company said. The missile weighs 15kg and can be operated not only from a firing post that weighs 11kg but also from an armored battlefield vehicle.
MMP is equipped with a tandem warhead that is both novel and versatile and that has been optimized with regard to the targets to be dealt with: pillboxes, bunkers or combat vehicles equipped with the latest generation explosive reactive armor.
With its dual-band visible/non-cooled infrared seeker, MMP can acquire both hot and cold targets and then head toward them completely autonomously, the company said. For engagements requiring continuous man-in-the loop control, a fiber-optic link relays the image seen by the seeker back to the firing post. The firing post and the missile, both being equipped with capabilities including location, orientation and digital communication, enables MMP to engage Non-Line-Of-Sight (NLOS) targets equally as well as those in direct line of sight, and, if required, under the permanent control of the operator and the commander.
At Eurosatory, MBDA is demonstrating MMP in its basic configuration for dismounted troops, deployed on a model of
Nexter’s 40mm canon turret as well as on the Multi-Purpose Combat Vehicle. An MMP firing post simulator is also being demonstrated on the French Ministry of Defense stand.