As a reliable partner of the Egyptian Armed Forces, MBDA had been showcasing its latest innovations at the sole Defence Exhibition of the African continent, EDEX 2023.

More specifically the leading missile manufacturer showcased the following:

Akeron family

It is a family of fifth-generation, highly reliable tactical combat missiles for use in complex operational environments. The system, in addition to its commercial and technical success, is also a symbol of European cooperation, with the successful beyond-the-line-of-sight (BLOS) firing in Cyprus at the end of 2022 as part of the European LynkEUs program and with the recent launch of the MarsEUs program.

As you can read below, in addition to the static demonstration of the system in question, MBDA also presented a new generation of simulators for the more comprehensive training of the system’s operators. The simulator is adapted accordingly to various battle scenarios depending on the customer’s requirements.

Also read: MBDA | Combat scenarios simulator for AKERON MP

Air dominance 

Air dominance has proven to be one of today’s and future biggest challenges. Yet, as has been proved in EDEX 2023, MBDA covers all the layers of air defence, offering systems with state-of-the-art capabilities: from VSHORAD systems to the higher layer with its Aster family, now including the new Aster 30 B1NT -under development-, whose scale model is shown on the stand at EDEX, together with VL Mica NG.

Also read: VL MICA | One of the options for the future Ground-Based Air Defence of Cyprus – Photos and VIDEO

Many of these well-established missile systems were also showcased at the DEFEA 2023 exhibition, where MBDA highlighted the reasons that have placed Greece among its leading export customers and long-term partners.

Also read: DEFEA 2023 | MBDA’s missile selection and confirmation of its long-term footprint in Greece

However, what caught visitors’ attention was MBDA’s capabilities in the naval domain. 

Except for Exocet 40 Block 3C, a well-known system to Greece and Cyprus, MBDA brought to the fore the Otomat anti-ship missile system. This is not a coincidence, as not long ago Egypt not only modernized its inventory of Otomat Anti-ship missiles to the Teseo Mk2/A standard – to be used on the FREMM Bergamini-class frigates and potentially by coastal defence batteries – but also purchased a number of new Teseo Mk2/As.

More specifically, Otomat is the trade name of the Teseo export version, a family of long-range ‘heavy’ anti-ship missiles that were designed in the early 1970s with industrial cooperation between Oto Melara and Matra that gave birth to the Otomat missile with capabilities similar to those of Exocet.

The Otomat has been upgraded from the initial Mk 1 model to the Mk 2 of the 1980s, the main difference being the extended range. The latter design was further upgraded in the early 2000s to the latest Teseo Mk 2/A version, internationally known as Otomat Mk 2 Block IV. Teseo Mk2/A is an upgraded variant of OTOMAT anti-ship missile that can be fired from both ground-based platforms and surface ships.

The newest variant has been designed for operation in the littoral environment and features modern fully-digital onboard electronics, a new missile interface, an active radar seeker with a re-designed signal processing system, alongside a data-link that allows for in-flight retargeting, a new mission console, and a new launching system. 

The Teseo EVO is the latest addition to the family due to a new propulsion system, an advanced dual-mode homing head, a state-of-the-art scalable warhead, and a new mission planning system, with full mission control of the missile flight. It also features a newly developed transonic airframe with advanced aerodynamic and flight controls to provide increased maneuverability and survivability.

Technical characteristics:

• Length: 4.46 meters
• Diameter: 0.4 meters
• Wingspan: 1.35 meters
• Weight (including boosters): 770 kg
• Warhead weight: 210 kg
• Speed:  310 m/s
• Operational range: 67 or 180 km (depending on variant)

With over 140 launches and a success rate exceeding 85%, the Teseo/Otomat family is currently in service with 10 customers on different classes of ships, from patrol vessels to guided missile destroyers.

Marte ER

Marte, a third-generation lightweight, anti-ship missile with a 100 km extended range, has recently entered service with the Qatar Armed Forces. The said system is promoted on the international market and is soon to be deployed with the Italian Navy. 

Based on the experience gained with the Marte Mk 2 family, the new weapon has been designed since the beginning as a multi-platform weapon capable of being launched not only by rotary-wing platforms (like the Greek NH90 helicopters), ground and naval platforms, but also from slow-speed fixed-wing aircraft.

Technical characteristics:

• Weight: < 345 kg (including the two side-placed acceleration boosters)
• Length: 3.60 meters
• Diameter: 316 mm
• Speed: High subsonic (over 0.9 Mach)
• Navigation: fully autonomous inertial navigation, aided with GPS and radar altimeter / 3D waypoints with selectable time on target / Sea-skimming, with the capability to fly over land 
• Terminal guidance: active RF seeker with advanced ECCMs
• Warhead: Semi-piercing HE warhead with impact and proximity fuze

Finally, the system allows Stand-off engagement ranges, advanced mission planning, quick automatic firing solution, and the possibility to manually modify trajectory and seeker search patterns, firing on third-party target coordinates, and salvo firing capability.

Also read: MBDA | ORCHESTRIKE collaborative missile systems demonstration at Paris Air Show 2023