Tim Ripley
Matra BAe Dynamics aims to capture a $1 billion market with its vertical launched Mica air defence missile, which was unveiled at Asian Aerospace yesterday.
"Before VL Mica there was no short range (SHORAD) "fire and forget" system capable of providing all weather self-defence against multiple and simultaneous air attacks from combat aircraft, anti-ship or air-to-surface stand-off missiles", says Jean-Pierre Talamoni, senior vice-president for sales and marketing, at the European missile company.
"The VL Mica is a new short range air defence system that has no equivalent anywhere in the world," he says. "It was designed by our French and British engineers to meet an operation need that had hitherto not been met - saturation attacks by aircraft or missiles.
"Unlike the SHORAD systems currently in use, the VL Mica makes it possible to engage multiple targets simultaneously regardless of weather or electronic warfare conditions or to take counter-measures with a total coverage of 360 degrees," he says.
"This performance can only be obtained by using an all-weather fire-and-forget missile fitted with a thrust vectored control system. This feature, which is unique for a missile in this category, allows vertical launching and therefore a very short reaction time, a high shooting rate - less than two seconds between firings - and easy integration to platforms, without costly dedicated sensors and guidance suites."
The VL Mica will use the air-to-air Mica missiles, which are autonomous after firing since the main part of the guidance system is on-board and uses an active radar homing or infrared imaging seeker. Existing Seawolf missile vertical launchers will also be used.
Matra BAe Dynamics is positioning the new weapon between the very short range Mistral missile and the medium range Aster missile, while complementing the command line of sight guided Seawolf, Jernas and Roland systems. They are offering both ship and ground based versions of the new weapon system.
"Today's air threats are increasingly sudden, for example after the late detection of a very fast missile fired in a coast environment, and based on saturation effect with simultaneous attacks from multiple directions," says Talamoni. "None of the short range systems that are currently in service can provide a satisfactory solution to such a threat in terms of the survivability of ships.
"The air-to-air Mica which has already been selected by several countries, presents the advantage of all weather, multi-target and fire-and-forget capabilities that have been largely proven on different combat aircraft," he says.
The VL Mica will complete the range of systems offered by "New MBD" to ensure the anti-aircraft protection of surface ships and land forces.
Source: Flight Daily News