Eurosam has been awarded a contract by OCCAR for the mid-life refurbishment of ASTER missiles for Italy and the UK, following the one for the French ASTER missiles from January 2020. According to Eurosam, all of the company’s domestic customers, the navies of the three countries, the Italian Army and French Air and Space Force, have now ordered the refurbishment of their ASTER missiles.
This will be performed in the respective national maintenance centres: the MBDA premises in Selles-Saint-Denis (centre of France), the Centro Interfoze Munizionamento Avanzato (CIMA) in Aulla, located near MBDA La Spezia site in Italy and in DMG Gosport, located near Portsmouth in the UK. The contract provides an opportunity to implement the latest environmental rules (REACH) in the production process and waste disposal, which will be managed in factories that have been built according to the latest environmental standards.
The contract award follows three successful ASTER firings during the NATO air defence and anti-missile exercise FORMIDABLE SHIELD 2021. This saw the participation of assets from 10 navies and was held during the second half of May at the MoD Hebrides Range in Scotland, UK. ASTER 30 missiles were successfully launched by French, Italian and UK warships.
Juergen Hensel
