LONDON — MBDA, Europe’s largest missile maker, is developing a non-line-of-sight missile for tanks that crews can load like a regular shell and launch from their 120 millimeter cannon, giving them a way to hit adversaries hiding behind buildings, tree cover or a hill using the main gun.
The new munition allows tanks to fight “in a completely different way,” boosting survivability by allowing them to target enemy armor while staying out of sight, MBDA said in a briefing ahead of the DSEI U.K. show starting in London on Tuesday, where it will present the missile.
The pan-European company will also unveil a low-cost effector with 800-kilometer plus range at the show, a glide version of the Spear air-to-surface missile, and the shape of a stealthy cruise missile being developed for the United Kingdom and France within the Future Cruise/Anti-Ship Weapon program.
The new tank missile, called Akeron MBT 120, was developed based on feedback from the war in Ukraine, where main battle tanks from both sides are improvising non-line-of-sight attacks by blind firing high-explosive shells, and where most tank engagements happen at less than 1,500 meters, according to the company.
MBDA is marketing the missile as a “cost-effective NLOS solution,” and will display a mock-up at DSEI show here. The aim is for test firings next year, depending on customer appetite, with deployment within a “couple of years” at the latest, the company said.
While both Russia and Ukraine have been using gun-launched missiles for added range, those are light-of-sight munitions that require painting the target, putting tank crews at risk of return fire and decreasing survivability, MBDA said.
Akeron MBT will match the specifications of a NATO 120 mm tank round, with a length of less than 1 meter and weighing around 20 kilograms, meaning the missile can be stored under armor and loaded in the turret. MBDA says the missile enables any tank with a 120 mm gun to become a “non-line-of-sight hunter killer,” without changing the vehicle’s signature.
The weapon will use a top attack mode to target enemy armor weak points, with fire-and-forget functionality and a passive electronic-optical/infrared seeker. The passive seeker will allow the missile to bypass laser-activated defensive aids and active protection systems such as Russia’s Shtora-1 electro-optical jammer, MBDA said.
The missile will be fitted in a gun-fit casing with data link, allowing tanks such as Leopard 2 and Challenger 3 to recognize the loaded ammunition. A rocket engine will launch the missile from the gun barrel at low G forces, avoiding the need for expensive high G-force hardened components, before accelerating to low supersonic speeds, MBDA said.
The company will also unveil Crossbow, a weapon for “affordable” deep strike being marketed as “one-way effector heavy,” as opposed to a shorter-range one-way munition presented at the Paris Air Show earlier this year. Whereas the light version presented in Paris is a “saturation solution,” the product on show in London is a “lethality solution,” MBDA said.
The idea has been to keep costs low by using off-the-shelf components and relying on multiple supply chains. Crossbow will have a modular payload of up to 300 kilograms, and while MBDA will offer a warhead, countries can also choose to integrate warheads already in their inventory.
The effector will effectively be a customizable cruise missile weighing 750 kilograms, with a range of more than 800 kilometers, a length of 5.3 meters and a 3-meter wingspan, and powered by a turbojet for high subsonic speeds.
The missile will use AI-enabled image-based navigation, as well satellite and inertial navigation. Final cost of the weapon will depend on customer specifications, which could include more expensive subsystems for higher-threat environments. Launch will be in a single or double configuration from vehicles that can carry a standard 20-foot container.
MBDA is aiming for a demonstration phase in the fourth quarter of this year, seven months after the initial design, and is in talks with a number of potential customers. The company expects to be ready to start production at scale in the second quarter of 2026.
The company says it’s organized an ecosystem of small, medium-sized and large companies across Europe that can supply off-the-shelf subsystems for Crossbow, allowing for high-volume production while ensuring robust and sovereign supply chains.
A glide variant of the Spear missile is another product seeking to provide armed forces with a lower-cost weapon, with the turbojet and fuel of the original missile replaced with a full-caliber, kinetic-energy penetrator. Range will depend on launch conditions, but would be similar to rival glide weapons that claim ranges of 80 to 100 kilometers, according to the company.
Spear Glide is mainly aimed at equipping fourth-generation fighter jets such as Saab’s Gripen, the Eurofighter Typhoon and South Korea’s KF 21, MBDA said. The weapon is designed for use after the first few days of a conflict, once enemy air-defense capability has been reduced.
The lower cost of the glide variant means it can be produced and delivered en masse for a saturation effect, according to the company.
The glide version of Spear will use an EO/IR seeker similar to the one in Crossbow, rather than the radio-frequency seeker of the powered Spear missiles, with cost also kept down by using off-the-shelf components.
MBDA will also display a surface-launched option for the ASRAAM anti-air missile at DSEI UK, as a low-cost system for point defense against uncrewed aerial vehicles and missiles, or as a component in an integrated air-defense system.
Regarding the FC/ASW program, which consists of a high-speed supersonic precision missile and a stealthy long-range cruise missile, MBDA will present a model of the stealthy missile showing the real shape rather than a concept-based artistic vision. The intention remains for both missiles to enter service in the early 2030s, according to the company.
Author: Rudy Ruitenberg
Source: DefenseNews
Reviewed By: Editorial Team
