MBDA’s Marte ER Anti-ship Missile Completes First Flight

MBDA’s Marte ER anti-ship missile, meant for firing from the Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet, completed its first flight on November 9.

The firing trial was carried out on 9 November in an Italian test range. The Marte ER missile flew for more than 100 km on a planned trajectory that included several waypoints and sea skimming flight, successfully testing all flying phases, the company said in a statement last week.

Pasquale Di Bartolomeo, Executive Group Director Sales & Business Development and Managing Director MBDA Italia, commented: “The ER version of the Marte family of multi-platform anti-ship missiles that can be launched by ships, helicopters, coastal batteries and fast jets. Most recently Marte ER being ordered earlier in 2018 by the Qatar Emiri Air Force (QEAF) for their new NH90 helicopters.”

Having completed the 18 months System Definition Phase, the full integration of  Marte ER on the Eurofighter Typhoon platform is proceeding at pace in order to implement an anti-ship capability onto the fighter.