MBDA,
At the end of December 2008, the DGA (the French armament procurement agency) notified MBDA of an order for the conversion of 45 French Navy Exocet MM40 Block2 missiles into the Exocet MM40 Block3 standard.
The conversion will take place at MBDA’s production site in La Selles-Saint-Denis (Loir-et-Cher), for delivery in 2011 and 2012.
These missiles will enter service on board the “Horizon” frigates – Forbin and Chevalier-Paul – on which integration work on the associated firing installations was also completed in 2008. In the longer term, the MM40 Block3 will be the principal anti-ship weapon of the multi-role frigates (FREMMs).
The changes required to move to the Exocet Block3 standard are mainly characterised by the turbojet engine which replaces the solid propellant motor of the previous versions, as well as the integration of a latest-generation avionics system which also features a GPS receiver. With these changes, the missile's operating range is doubled, the missile can now vary its angles of attack against naval targets and can also attack targets in the littoral which have been designated by their by their geographic coordinates.
Following the DGA’s notification, Antoine Bouvier, Chief Executive Officer of MBDA said: “This order is in addition to the three export orders we have received for the Exocet Block3. It confirms the strength of the Exocet family of which around 3,500 units have already been produced in various versions for more than 30 armed forces worldwide”.
With industrial operations in four European countries and in the United States, MBDA has an annual turnover exceeding EUR 3 billion and a forward order book of over EUR 13 billion. MBDA's customers include more than 90 armed forces worldwide. The company is one of the world's leading missile and missile system manufacturers. MBDA is jointly owned by BAE Systems (37.5%), EADS (37.5%) and Finmeccanica (25%).
