MBDA presents a prototype of a new man-portable air defense system

MBDA has demonstrated for the first time a new anti-aircraft missile for a promising man-portable air defense system being developed for the Italian army’s needs.

The company announced this on its website.

On July 22, representatives of the European defense company MBDA presented an ultra-short-range anti-aircraft missile being developed for a future man-portable air defense system at the Farnborough International Airshow.

The system is being developed as part of the requirements set last year by the Italian Army. It is designed to engage fighters, helicopters, and small drones.

The developers do not publicize the detailed characteristics of the new interceptor. However, they state that the missile will reach supersonic speeds and operate on a “fire and forget” algorithm.

The missile is equipped with an all-weather homing head. It has an image processing function that should significantly increase interference resistance and hit probability.

MBDA noted that the missile’s design will ensure its seamless integration into existing remote-controlled systems using the Mistral 3 man-portable air defense system.

In addition, it will also be integrated into MBDA’s flagship modular Sky Warden system, which is being developed to counter drones.

MBDA is one of the world’s few manufacturers of man-portable air defense systems. The company is currently supplying its latest development, the Mistral 3 man-portable air defense system, which was introduced in 2018, under a number of contracts.

In its portable version, the system consists of a tripod, sighting devices, a power supply, a friend-or-foe identification system, and a sealed transport and launch container with a missile.

The Mistral 3 missile is equipped with an infrared seeker and provides interception of a wide range of air targets at a range of 0.5 to 7.5 km and an altitude of up to 3 km in difficult weather conditions and at any time of the day.

Last June, Estonia, Belgium, Cyprus, France, and Hungary signed an agreement to jointly purchase these air defense systems for their armed forces.

In addition, this month, Estonia handed over a batch of these systems to Ukraine as part of its military assistance.