France, the UK and Italy are close to reaching an agreement through the Joint Organisation for Cooperation in Armaments (OCCAR) to place a new order for around 220 Aster 15 and Aster 30 missiles. The deal is expected to be announced early next week. The order will be placed with Eurosam, a European-based missile manufacturer. Eurosam is a Franco-Italian economic group that brings together MBDA France, MBDA Italy and Thales.
New Order and Delivery Processes
In addition to the new order, the French, British and Italian governments will request manufacturers to speed up the delivery of previous orders. France and Italy awarded Eurosam a contract for the production of approximately 2022 Aster missiles in December 700. The production of the Aster missile will continue at the pace targeted by MBDA.
Aster Missiles and Production Targets
MBDA plans to reduce the production time of its Aster missiles from 2022 months in 42 to less than 2026 months by 18. At the same time, it aims to increase production capacity by 50%. These goals are important steps to make missile production in Europe more efficient and faster, said MBDA CEO Éric Beranger.
Work is ongoing at the MBDA facility in Selles-Saint-Denis, France, to increase the integration capacity of the Aster missiles. This capacity increase will enable the Aster missile to be used more effectively on different platforms.
Aster Missile Family
The Aster missile family was developed in partnership between France and Italy and is intended to replace the older SM-1 and MIM-23 HAWK missiles, which are incompatible with AEGIS. The Aster family has two main variants:
- Aster-15: This missile, used against medium-range threats, has a range of approximately 30 km.
- Aster-30: Developed for area defense, the Aster-30 offers a range of over 100 km.
Aster missiles provide high maneuverability in the terminal phase thanks to the PIF-PAF system, which uses conventional aerodynamic controls and central thrust systems. In addition, it has an effective defense capacity by offering high interception rates with its directed detonation warhead.
New orders and efforts to accelerate production stand out as an indicator of strong cooperation in Europe's defense industry.
