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Landmark delivery of 1000 MMP missiles to the French Armed Forces and the relationship with Cyprus

Defence Redefined

Published on 30/11/2021 at 20:43

On November 16, 2021 the MBDA completed the delivery of a consignment of Missile Moyenne Portée / medium-range missiles (MMP missiles) to the French Armed Forces, which included the 1000th MMP missile.

According to the Loi de Programming Militaire, the delivery of 1,950 missiles is scheduled for 2025.

The MMP is a 5th generation anti-tank combat-proven missile deployed in the operations of the French Army. It has been in service with the latter since 2017 and has also been ordered by Belgium and Sweden.

The system, which is considered to be the replacement for the MILAN and JAVELIN anti-tank missiles of the French Army, can be deployed by infantry units, launched from vehicles, but also installed in small patrol boats.

Among other things, it features “fire-and-forget” and “man-in-the-loop” capabilities so that the gunner can change position immediately after the shot which also reduces collateral losses.

MMP missile technical characteristics:

Weight: 15 kg
Length: 1.3 meters
Caliber: 140 mm
Range: 4000+ meters

The system can also operate within a network by receiving target designation from third parties such as UAVs for beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) target engagement.

Also read: MBDA | Network-Centric-oriented Philosophy in EXOCET, MISTRAL, MMP – Partnership with Cypriot Companies in the Background

The link of MMP with LynkEUs program

In addition to the above, the MMP system constitutes the basis of the proposal of MBDA which was selected in the LynkEUs program of the European Defence Industrial Development Program (EDIDP) and concerns the BLOS capability.

Out of a total of 11 companies-organisations participating in the program, 3 are Cypriot: SignalGeneriX, Additess and the Cyprus Institute. The companies in question secured their participation by meeting the strict requirements set by the MBDA.

Finally, the MMP missile is a system of interest to the National Guard, something we have previously mentioned (link below). The interest for the purchase of the latest generation anti-tank systems was also confirmed today through the briefing of the Minister of Defence, Charalambos Petridis.

In particular, the Minister stated: “… The Ministry is also considering various options for the acquisition of a modern air defence system, the acquisition of an anti-tank system and the purchase of helicopters…”

Also read: Exclusive | National Guard’s evident interest in state-of-the-art anti-tank weapon systems