The ENFORCER is a man-portable, lightweight, high-precision missile system developed by MBDA to meet the requirements of the Infantry and Special Forces. 

The development of the Enforcer missile system started in 2014 and it is a product designed under a German-led, multi-national program, while to date it is one of the largest self-financed projects of MBDA.

The development phase included multiple guided firing trials by the German Army (Bundeswehr) in November 2016, where ENFORCER missiles successfully destroyed targets at ranges between 1,000 m and 2,000 m. The accuracy of the missile’s homing head was also proved during the tests.

In December 2019, MBDA signed a contract with Germany to supply Enforcer missile systems for use by the German Armed Forces against mobile or stationary lightly-armored and soft-skinned targets. In particular, the system was chosen to fill the gaps between the range of unguided rockets and the range of anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs).

According to MBDA, the ENFORCER is a shoulder-launched guided munition, which provides engaging target capability from a 2 km distance, thus ensuring minimal exposure to the operator. Its easy-to-use, modular design further supports future options, such as adaptation to vehicles, but also a variety of warheads such as multi-effect or armor-piercing. 

Further, the said system features a fire-and-forget capability. Along with that, it also integrates lock-on before launch (LOBL) capabilities.

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ENFORCER is also effective against targets behind cover due to its airburst capabilities. At the same time, not only can it perform day and night operations, but it can also be launched from confined spaces, something particularly useful for fighting within urban areas.

Its main technical characteristics include:

• Missile weight: < 7 kg
• Total weight (missile, launcher): < 12
• Length: < 1 m
• Diameter: 90 mm
• Maximum operational range: 2,000 m

ENFORCER serves as a basis for a new air-launched variant called ENFORCER Air, which was unveiled at the Berlin Security Conference 2019 in November 2019 by MBDA Deutschland. 

This variant comes with various launching options including drop-launched, tube-launched, and dual-launcher and it can be carried by helicopters, tactical unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) UAVs.

MBDA first highlighted the possibility of integrating the ENFORCER AIR into the H145M helicopters of the German Army’s Special Forces (Kommando Spezialkräfte -KSK) in 2019. Company officials described the missile as the “little brother” of MBDA’s Brimstone anti-tank missile, in terms of its size and cost.

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