Advertise with us
Where the defense community gets down to business.
Show Coverage
Looking for more? Check out this year's full list of upcoming show coverage.
Conferences
View exclusive coverage of the best minds in Defense - military, government and industry.
PARIS - With about 3,000 Mica missiles produced for five nations, MBDA has now cast its net further afield to extend the life of the air-to-air missile by developing a surface-launched version, the VL Mica. In April, MBDA signed up its first foreign export order for the weapon.
Like the air-launched missile, the ground variant is available with two different seekers - IR and radar. The IR homing head is fully passive, while the RF seeker is all weather.
The VL Mica is targeted at many of the new threats being seen today on the battlefield.
"Small-sized targets are the most dangerous ones," said Jean-Louis Benoist, retired colonel and senior military adviser to MBDA's Technical & Military Operations Directorate, speaking this week at the Paris Air Show. "It is no longer just aircraft, but missiles and guided bombs with low IR signatures and cross sections. The VL Mica can pull up to 50g for intercept of high-maneuvering targets."
For vertical launch, up to four missiles are placed in a pressurized container for storage and firing - allowing it to engage four different targets in six seconds, Benoist said. Once inside the container, the VL Mica will have a lifespan of 25 years. No preventative maintenance of the missile is required while inside the container, except for a check every five years and an exchange of the rocket motor at mid-life.
"At firing, the exhaust gases are rejected upwards through a duct integrated to the inside of the container," Benoist said. "There is no risk of hot gases to personnel on the ground."
Smoke and dust are reduced to lessen the firing system's heat signature so the missiles are "difficult to detect at departure."
Because gases are vented upward, the launchers can be placed close to buildings in urban combat environments.
Benoist said that MBDA's goal is to sell new VL Micas, but militaries operating the air-to-air Mica also have the option off converting them to ground-launched systems.
"Verticalization of air-to-air missiles is not good business for us, but Micas used by air forces in an air-to-air role have a limited lifetime," he said. "It is feasible that after a certain number of flight hours, like 300, it can be put in a container and become a dead missile and can go on (for many years longer)."
Help
