France has launched a major programme to upgrade the ballistic missile defence (BMD) capabilities of the MBDA Aster 30 long-range air-defence missile.
Announced by the French defence procurement agency (the DGA) on 14 January, the contract with MBDA will involve the development of an upgraded version of the Aster 30 Block 1 called the Aster 30 Block 1 New Technology (Aster 30 B1NT).
The contract also includes production of Aster 30 B1NT missiles for the French Air Force, which uses the Aster 30 Block 1 in its land-based SAMP/T surface-to-air missile system.
Although not stated by either the DGA or MBDA, French media have reported the contract as being worth EUR400 million (USD436 million).
An MBDA spokesperson told IHS Jane’s that the upgrade would enable the Aster 30 B1NT to “engage the whole range of short-range ballistic missiles [SRBMs, of up to 1,000 km range] and some segment of the medium-range ballistic missile [MRBM] domain”. MRBMs have a range of 1,000-3,000 km, while currently the Aster 30 Block 1 missile can only engage SRBMs with a range of up to 600 km. The range capability of the incoming missile is significant in the BMD scenario as longer-range missiles fly both higher and faster than their shorter-range cousins, making them more difficult to intercept.
The main element of the B1NT upgrade is the inclusion of a new high-resolution Ka-band (26.5-40 GHz) active radar seeker to replace the existing Ku-band (2-18 GHz) seeker on the current Aster 30 Block 1 missile. The shorter wavelength of the new Ka-band seeker, and accompanying new missile calculator, will provide the B1NT with a longer target-acquisition range combined with its better angular resolution than its predecessor, according to MBDA.
Fuente: http://www.janes.com
