The SEA VENOM/ANL anti-ship missile has completed its qualification firing trials with a successful final firing at the French Armament General Directorate (DGA) test site at Ile du Levant on 17 November. Soon to start equipping the Royal Navy’s AW159 and Marine Nationale’s H160M shipborne helicopters, the SEA VENOM/ANL is a co-operation project developed under the Lancaster House treaty between France and the UK. This is the first programme to take full advantage of the cross-border centres of excellence on missile technologies launched by the Lancaster House treaty, which celebrated its 10 year anniversary this month.
The final qualification trial tested the missile’s advanced target discrimination within a complex and cluttered naval scenario.
Éric Béranger, MBDA CEO, said: “I want to congratulate the UK-French teams across both MBDA and our governments for the commitment they have shown in meeting this qualification milestone amid the disruption caused by COVID-19. Together they have proven that through co-operation we can jointly overcome adversity and deliver leading edge military capabilities.”
Previous trials have tested the missiles launch envelope, release envelope and engagement modes, such as its low-altitude sea-skimming flight, Lock-On-After-Launch, Lock-On-Before-Launch, Operator-In-The-Loop, and Aim-Point refinement.
Jack Richardson
