Mbda, Italy has said yes to the FC/ASW missile program with France and the United Kingdom
Italy has decided to join the Franco-British Future Anti-Ship Missile / Future Cruise Missile (FMAN/FMC) or FC/ASW missile program, led by MBDA. All the details
Italy joins France and the United Kingdom in the FMAN/FMC or FC/ASW program for the development of a new next-generation cruise missile.
After last week's indiscretions from the French press, official confirmation arrived today with the note from the French Defense Ministry.
The French newspaper La Tribune wrote on June 21 that the Italian defense minister, Guido Crosetto, present at Le Bourget, had decided to join the French and United Kingdom program on future anti-ship missiles and cruise missiles.
Led by MBDA, a European consortium between Airbus and BAE Systems (37.5% each) with a 25% shareholder Leonardo, the FMAN/FMC program should replace the current generation of cruise missiles in service with the British armed forces by 2030 – Storm Shadow (Royal Air Force) and the American anti-ship Harpoon from Boeing (Royal Navy) – as well as in the French forces – SCALP (Air Force) and Exocet (National Navy), explains the French newspaper.
In 2017, France and the UK kicked off the concept phase of the FMAN/FMC programme. “These two missiles are part of one of the most important capabilities programs for France and the United Kingdom” underlines La Tribune . And according to the French press, Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu met his Italian counterpart Crosetto last Tuesday, who has decided to join the programme.
Today the Paris Ministry of Defense announced that France, Italy and the United Kingdom signed a letter of intent on June 20, 2023 during the Paris Air Show. With this letter, the Franco-British Future Cruise and Anti-Ship Weapon (FC/ASW) program will be opened to the Italian partner.
All the details.
THE CONFIRMATION OF THE FRENCH DEFENSE MINISTRY
Currently in a risk reduction and preparation phase, the Franco-British Future Anti-Ship Missile / Future Cruise Missile (FMAN/FMC) or FCASW program aims to develop a new generation of missiles to renew long-range anti-ship capability and depth attack of both nations.
By jointly signing a letter of intent relating to the FMAN/FMC program on Tuesday 20 June 2023, the United Kingdom, Italy and France confirmed their willingness to extend Franco-British cooperation to their Italian partner, the French ministry specifies.
According to the press release from the French Armed Forces Ministry, the dialogue phase that will now take place between the three countries will lay the foundations for the development phase to come. “The goal for each of the three countries is to have an operational deep strike capability by 2030. This new phase of the FC/ASW program will strengthen the European defense technological and industrial base around MBDA, the European leader in the field of missiles the press release adds.
THE PROGRAM LED BY MBDA
Called FC/ASW for Future Cruise/Anti-Ship Weapon (or FMAN/FMC for futur missile anti-navire/futur missile de croisière in French), the program is led by European missile leader MBDA. The FC/ASW aims to replace the Exocet and Harpoon air-launched and ship-launched Scalp/Storm Shadow anti-ship missiles currently in service with the French and British air forces and navies.
"With the award of the contract for the phase underway in February 2022, MBDA is maturing the technologies and systems aimed at improving the survivability, range and lethality of air- and naval-launched anti-ship and cruise missiles," explains Defense Analysis .
THE RESOURCES USED SO FAR
As specified in the note from the Paris dicastery, the current conceptual phase of the programme, with a total value of around 100 million euros, is financed in equal parts by France and Great Britain, with the 'fair division' of the workload between MBDA France and Mbda UK.
According to MBDA's roadmap, the development phase is currently expected in 2024, with entry into service of the missile in the anti-ship variant planned for 2028, and that of the land-attack variant in 2030.
EXPERT COMMENT
So also Italy gets on board the FC/ASW program.
"This is very important news given the strategic nature of the program and its operational and industrial implications," comments Rid .
"Italy has been showing interest in participating in the Anglo-French program for some time now, needing in the future the replacement of the capacity offered by the Storm Shadow in service with the Air Force and by the Teseo family in service with the Navy" he underlined Defense Analysis adding that "Participation in this program is also intended to create the necessary know-how to maintain a technological advantage and therefore a deterrence and defense capacity to face future threats, as well as a shared sovereign capacity with the other two Countries at the European level, without forgetting the repercussions regarding exports to other allied and friendly countries”.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/mbda-litalia-ha-detto-si-al-programma-fc-asw-con-francia-e-regno-unito/ on Mon, 26 Jun 2023 13:50:36 +0000.