MBDA anticipates producing 1,000 low cost, one way effectors per month to meet an emerging French combat mass requirement (Breaking Defense)
PARIS AIR SHOW — European missile house MBDA has launched a low-cost, long-range, one-way “effector” for high intensity warfare at the Paris Air Show, backed with an industrial plan of producing 1,000 units a month.
The design, which was produced with internal R&D funding, integrated with a 40kg warhead, jet engine and capable of flying at a range of 500km, has been under development since December 2024. The goal: sell it to France in large quantities to meet an emerging requirement to increase combat mass.
“We are waiting for French MoD consultation on the subject,” Hugo Coqueret, business development manager, battlefield domain, told reporters at Le Bourget today. “We will be waiting for the specific requirements of the French DGA [France’s defense procurement agency] but we’ve already had some talks with the French armed forces to make sure that this missile is perfectly fitted for the mission.”
A first test demonstration of the system, which is effectively a one-way drone, is planned for “autumn” this year, ahead of meeting a target of producing a “first batch” by 2027, according to Coqueret.
“It is a very quick development [schedule], we are not waiting for anything,” he said.
MBDA also plans on collaborating with an undisclosed automotive manufacturer to hit the rapid production goal.
“It’s still a partnership that needs to be thought through at the beginning, because the ammunition needs to be built and engineered in a way that will be produced on the factory lines of the automotive industry,” said Coqueret.
Reaching the 1,000 unit production target means that the “armed forces will be able to receive lots at a reduced cost and be able to use plenty of them….to saturate enemy air defenses,” he added.
Coqueret also noted that international conflicts have demonstrated the need for low-cost effectors.
“What we’ve seen in Ukraine, what we’ve seen in the Middle East, it’s somewhat new and I think we are the first in France to be able to present such” a solution, he shared.
The effector’s airframe manufacturer has prior experience of deploying systems to Ukraine, noted Coqueret.
“One-Way Effector is a new attrition proposition based on feedback from the armed forces, particularly from the conflict in Ukraine,” added MBDA in a company statement today.
At an operational level, “we will be launching lots of them, and the [enemy] air defense will be targeting them…. [so] reducing the stock of air defense ammunition,” said Coqueret.
Additionally, the low cost solution can either be launched from a ramp or an “integrated hangar,” and can operate in GNSS denied environments, he commented.
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Author: Tim Martin
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