MBDA has offered its Missile Moyenne Portée (MMP) to the Indian Army. Source: MBDA
MBDA has entered discussions with the Indian Army to offer its Missile Moyenne Portée (MMP) anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW), a company representative told
IHS Jane's at Defexpo on 7 February.
In 2010 India launched a major programme for up to 8,000 light anti-tank missiles to replace the MBDA MILAN 2T missiles in service with (and still in production for) the Indian Army.
At the launch of the Indian requirement, MBDA did not have any suitable 'fire-and-forget' missiles within its products and so did not enter the competition. However, the company has since developed the MMP missile to meet French Army requirements, receiving a contract for 2,850 missiles in December 2013. Having developed the MMP, which MBDA feels is a good match for the Indian requirement, the company is now offering the system to India.
The Indian Army has currently only conducted trials with the Israeli Rafael Spike ATGW, while US companies Raytheon and Lockheed Martin are looking to enter their jointly produced Javelin system into the contest.
To bid the MMP, MBDA is teaming up with Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), which is already the company's local partner for Indian production of the MILAN missile. The MMP being offered would be built in India to exactly the same configuration as the French Army's MMPs.
MBDA France is currently carrying out the testing and qualification process for the MMP, which is planned to be completed by 2016. Deliveries to France will then start in 2017.
The MMP has three operating modes: fire and forget; man in the loop; and lock-on after launch. It has a dual-mode seeker (IR/TV), is fully digitised, and features a multipurpose tandem warhead, two-stage main propulsion, real-time datalink, and non-line-of-sight (NLOS) firing capability. The system has a range of 4 km and can be fired from confined spaces.
According to MBDA, one of the missile's key advantages lies in its uncooled infrared sensor, allowing for immediate firing once a target is acquired.