The French DGA (Direction Générale de l’Armement) has notified MBDA of an order for the development and production of the MMP (Missile Moyenne Portée) weapon system which will equip the French Army as of 2017.

The MMP missile will provide a successor to MILAN (the anti-tank system currently in service with the French Army and sold to around 40 other armies around the world). Thanks to its modular concept, MMP will have the capability of being fired from portable firing posts, battlefield vehicles and army aviation platforms.

MMP’s entirely new concept takes into consideration the experience gained from recent conflicts where the need to master the delivery of military effects without collateral damage has been shown to be a major operational requirement. As a result, it offers both a “fire and forget” capability (which allows the operator to move to another position immediately after having fired the weapon) as well as a “man in the loop” capability (for engagements which could pose the risk of collateral damage).

MMP is effective against a wide range of ground targets (including tanks, armored and non-armored vehicles and infrastructures). The missile can be fired from confined spaces and directed against non-line of sight targets.

 “Calling on its 40 years of experience in the ground combat missile domain, MBDA has conceived a new generation missile which combines all the requirements expressed by the French Army and highlighted by the unique operational experiences gained from its activities in Afghanistan as well as in Africa and Asia,” said Antoine Bouvier, CEO of MBDA.

“The architecture and technologies within MMP are truly innovative and position this missile well ahead of the competition. I am therefore confident in the export potential of this new program which, in the next ten years, should represent several times the size of the order concluded with France. This contract will contribute to maintaining important skills in the French missile sector with its numerous sub-contractors such as Sagem for MMP,” Bouvier added.

With a significant presence in five European countries and within the USA, in 2012 MBDA achieved a turnover of 3 billion Euros with an order book of 9.8 billion Euros. With more than 90 armed forces customers in the world, MBDA is a world leader in missiles and missile systems.

MBDA is the only group capable of designing and producing missiles and missile systems that correspond to the full range of current and future operational needs of the three Armed Forces (Land, Sea and Air). In total, the group offers a range of 45 missile systems and countermeasures products already in operational service and more than 15 others currently in development.
MBDA is jointly held by BAE Systems (37.5%), EADS (37.5%) and Finmeccanica (25%).