France has launched a major programme to upgrade the ballistic missile defence (BMD) capabilities of the MBDA Aster 30 long-range air-defence missile.<\/p>\n
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).<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Although not stated by either the DGA or MBDA, French media have reported the contract as being worth EUR400 million (USD436 million).<\/p>\n
An MBDA spokesperson told IHS Jane’s<\/i> 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n