France Ready to Export MdCN Cruise Missiles to Sweden for New Frigates

France is ready to authorize Sweden to purchase MdCN sea-launched cruise missiles.

French newspaper Les Echos reported this.

This would be the first export of the weapon outside France.

Paris plans to include the delivery of MdCN missiles in an enhanced defense partnership with Sweden, which the two countries are expected to announce during French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Stockholm on August 31.

The missiles are expected to become part of the armament of four frigates that France’s Naval Group will build for the Swedish Navy.

The contract for the ships is worth €4.3 billion, and the first frigates are scheduled to be delivered to Sweden in 2030.
In addition to cruise missiles, the frigates will receive air and missile defense systems as well as torpedo armament. The MdCN will give the ships the capability to strike targets deep inside enemy territory.

Militarnyi previously reported that the Italian Navy plans to purchase French SCALP Naval cruise missiles with a range of up to 1,000 km.

The Italian military has considered SCALP Naval as one option for enhancing the fleet’s ability to strike targets deep inside enemy territory. The missiles are expected to be carried primarily by new U212NFS-class submarines.

MdCN Cruise Missile

The MdCN, also known as SCALP Naval, is a French sea-launched cruise missile developed by MBDA. The French Navy has operated it for nearly a decade, but Paris has previously not authorized its export.

A Microturbo TR50 turbojet engine powers the missile, which has a maximum speed of about 800 km/h and weighs approximately 1,400 kg. The missile is 6.5 meters long, with a 500 mm body diameter. Its warhead is a high-explosive multipurpose warhead weighing about 250 kg.

The missile uses an integrated guidance system combining inertial navigation, TERCOM/TERRAIN reference systems, and GPS satellite navigation. In the terminal phase, it uses active radar and infrared guidance systems, allowing it to accurately engage well-protected stationary targets.

Launch range depends on the carrier: it reaches about 1,400 km when launched from surface ships and about 1,000 km from submarines. MdCN carriers include FREMM-class multirole frigates, Barracuda-class nuclear-powered submarines and Scorpène-class diesel-electric submarines.

The French fleet started operating the MdCN in 2017 aboard frigates and in 2022 aboard submarines.

The missile saw its combat debut on April 14, 2018, during a joint French, U.S. and British strike against Syrian regime chemical weapons facilities. The frigates Aquitaine, Provence, and Languedoc launched three missiles in coordination with SCALP-EG missiles fired by aircraft and U.S. and British Tomahawks.

Serial production of the MdCN continued between 2014 and 2021 and resumed in May 2026.