Bengaluru,
India- MBDA, a European developer and manufacturer
of missiles plans to offer next generation air Combat Capabilities for the
Indian Air Force.
The Company which was formed as a joint venture by a merger of
the guided missile divisions of Air Bus, Leonardo and BAE Systems in Europe is
exhibiting a full range of missiles and missile Systems at the India’s premier
air show – Aero India 2019
Air Dominance System on display at Aero India 2019 in Bengaluru
from February 20 to 24 includes:
METEOR
Meteor is the next generation of Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air
Missile (BVRAAM) system designed to revolutionise air-to-air combat in the 21st
Century. The weapon brings together six nations with a common need to defeat
the threats of today as well as the future emerging ones.
Guided by an advanced active radar seeker, Meteor provides all
weather capability to engage a wide variety of targets from agile fast jets to
small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and cruise missiles. It is designed to meet the
most stringent of requirements and is capable of operating in the most severe
of clutter and countermeasure environments.
The weapon is also equipped with data link communication. Aimed
at meeting the needs of a network centric environment, Meteor can be operated
using third party data, enabling the Meteor user–the pilot–to have the most
flexible weapon system.
ASRAAM
ASRAAM is in service with the Royal Air Force as its Within
Visual Range (WVR) Dominance weapon. The weapon is also in operational service
with the Royal Australian Air Force on its F/A-18 Hornet. In WVR air combat,
the ability to strike first is vital. A pilot engaging an enemy needs a missile
that reacts more rapidly than ever before with the speed and agility to
maximise the probability of a kill regardless of evasive target manoeuvres or
the deployment of countermeasures. ASRAAM has proven this capability.
ASRAAM accepts target information via the aircraft sensors, such
as the radar or helmet mounted sight but can also act as an autonomous infrared
search and track system. The RAAF has demonstrated successful ‘over the
shoulder’ firing in Lock on After Launch (LOAL) mode against target drones that
were behind the wing-line of the launch aircraft. Already fully integrated with
proven reliability on Typhoon, Tornado and F/A-18, ASRAAM is also being
integrated onto the F-35 Lightning II. Proven capability demonstrated by
firings from a range of aircraft, including: F-16, F/A-18, Tornado F3, Tornado
GR4 and Typhoon aircraft.
MICA
MICA is the multi-mission air-to-air missile system for the
Rafale and the latest versions of Mirage 2000-5 combat aircraft. It has a high
level of tactical flexibility in order to meet the most demanding operational
requirements:
Beyond Visual Range (BVR) multi-target / multi-shoot
Enhanced Short Range (SR) performance
Maximum flexibility for multi-role / swing-role aircraft
MICA has a totally dual role. It is able to cope with both BVR
and SR combat situations and exhibits very high performance in both situations.
The weapon covers Beyond Visual Range situations and in addition offers 2
guidance systems with its 2 interoperable seekers:
RF MICA with radar seeker provides all weather shoot-up / shoot
down capability IR MICA with dual waveband imaging infrared seeker surpassing
latest generation AAM missiles. MICA outperforms other BVR missiles with its
unique stealthy interception capability provided by its silent seeker.
BRIMSTONE
BRIMSTONE provides a combat proven, low collateral, close air
support weapon offering to the fast jet operator the unique capability of engaging
a wide range of target types, including fast moving vehicles / vessels
in both land and naval environments and in both direct and indirect modes.
The latest generation Brimstone builds upon the successful
Brimstone Urgent Operational Requirement (UOR) which deployed the weapon
into front line operations with the RAF.
Operationally deployed in the Afghanistan, Libya conflicts,
Brimstone has proved to be the weapon of choice with its ability to
perform surgical strikes in time critical missions with a true day / night
capability.
SMARTGLIDER
SMARTGLIDER is another long-range strike weapon and is optimised
to counter anti-access strategies and other emerging battle space threats. It
forms a family of all-up-round glide weapons, with folding wings and a range of
over 100 km allowing the combat platform to stay at safe distance from the
enemy defences. With the smallest member of the Smart Glider family being just
120 kg, a Rafale will be able to carry as many as 18– allowing the destruction
of multiple targets or the saturation of even the most complex air defence
systems.
MISTRAL ATAM
MISTRAL ATAM has been delivered to India to equip the HAL
weaponries version of the Advanced Light Helicopter, the ALH Rudra. The system
is based on two launchers each deploying two MBDA air-to-air Mistral missiles.
Given the wide range of roles that the Rudra will have to undertake, ATAM will
provide the helicopter’s crew with a weapon that is not only easy to use but
one that can be operated in the whole flight envelope from nap of the earth to
15,000ft and at flight speeds from hovering to up to 200 knots. The same system
has successfully undergone integration on the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH)
platform also manufactured by HAL.