With an intergovernmental agreement and development contracts, the procurement agencies Direction générale de l’armement (DGA) from France and the UK’s Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) have settled the preparatory work for the Future Cruise / Anti-Ship Weapon (FC/ASW) programme.
As MBDA has announced, the preparatory work will focus on the coordinated development of a programme of next-generation deep-strike and heavy anti-ship weapons. Two complementary missile concepts are being examined for possible deployment from the end of the decade. These are a subsonic concept with low observation capability and a supersonic concept with high manoeuvrability. This would be based on French and UK requirements leading to new capabilities to combat land-based and maritime threats, hardened targets and air defence systems at very long ranges and in increasingly contested battlefields.
MBDA sees itself as particularly suited to this development mission. Firstly, because the company is a joint venture with French and British shareholders. Secondly, MBDA has development and production capacities in both countries.
GWH
