The French Defense Innovation Agency (AID) announced the selection of a MBDA-led consortium to develop plan for ‘LARINAE’ programme. – for the development of a remote-guided munitions system capable of neutralizing a hardened target within 50 km.
The first demonstrations, expected by the end of 2024, will allow AID and the General Directorate of Equipment (GDA) to assess the relevance of industrial proposals related to the operational need expressed by the French Armed Forces.
AID and DGA selected two consortia: the MBDA-led project will also run with a Nexter project Arrowhead, EOS Technology and Traak – both selected from among 16 proposals.
MBDA’s project aims to develop a drone weighing around ten kilograms with deployable wings. This solution will make it possible to explore use cases that require compactness and mobility.
Meanwhile, the Nexter/EOS/Traak project aims to develop a ten-kilogram vertical takeoff and landing surveillance drone that can evolve into a non-GPS environment. The robustness of the system will make it possible to explore long-term tracking use cases (3 hours), in a possibly larger environment and without necessarily having a GPS signal.
MBDA is based on the “minimum viable product” approach.
After the success of the first call for COLIBRI projects – which required a similar system to LARINAE, but at a close contact distance of 5 km – MBDA confirmed its position in the field of guided munitions with the selection of the MUTANT concept, based on an approach ” minimum viable product’ that focuses on user requirements.
MBDA’s propelled and guided munitions benefit from technologies developed by the company over many years, particularly the AKERON family, to ensure very high levels of performance in the neutralization of armored and mobile targets, while guaranteeing operational reliability and safety.
Flexible cost, timing and capacity delivery
“We are absolutely driven by a different paradigm,” said Mike Mews, director of Sales and Business Development at MBDA UK. Army Technology last month.
The new paradigm will see defense companies are trying to balance cost, schedule and capability – but companies need to be more flexible to effectively respond to the increasing demands of Europe’s growing mobilization in the wake of the war in Ukraine.
This is why MBDA is working closely with AID and DGA “to do things differently,” the French Ministry of the Armed Forces said.
The consortium will deliver only with the description of the results to be produced and without technical specifications. be ambitious in terms of deliverables and deadlines; and consider recurring cost as a shaping factor as the solution must have a lower total cost of use than the weapons in use today.
Read the original at Defence247.gr
