First 50 Missiles, Firing Posts from MMP Combat System Delivered to French Army

France’s defence procurement agency, DGA, has accepted delivery of the first batch of 50 missiles and 20 firing posts from the new MMP land combat missile system manufactured by MBDA, last week.

The new system will gradually replace the Milan, the HOT missiles mounted on VAB Armoured Fighting Vehicles and the ERYX for some of these missiles.

It will be issued to the French Army infantry and cavalry units, and to Special Forces of the Army, Navy and Air Force. The MMP programme will see the delivery of 400 firing posts and 1,750 missiles across all of the French Armed Forces by 2025. The first deliveries will be used to train future users. The weapon system will be deployed in operations in the course of 2018.

The DGA, which awarded MBDA the MMP contract  in 2013, qualified  the  system  last  July, clearing the way for serial production.

The MMP benefits from  lessons  learned  in  recent  operational engagements. It offers both ‘fire-and-forget’ and ‘man-in-the-loop’ capabilities. The first enables fixed or mobile targets to be  hit  without  intervention by  the  operator  during  the  missile’s  flight.

The  second  allows  the operator  to  change  targets mid-flight, to  refine  the point of impact, or  to  divert  the missile; it  also opens up the possibility of firing at hidden targets beyond the direct line of sight.

The weapon system can be used by day and by night. Its multi-purpose warhead is effective against a wide variety of targets such as vehicles, armour, infrastructures and personnel. Its extreme accuracy gives  it  the  ability  to  strike  at  a  range  of  over 4,000 metres while minimising  the  risk  of collateral damage.

The missile can be  fired  from  confined  spaces, a  crucial  characteristic  for  urban combat. MMP can be fired by dismounted infantrymen and is also to be fitted on the EBRC Jaguar armoured reconnaissance and combat vehicle, due to be delivered to the French Army in 2020.