With European defense ready to go live, the industries of the Old Continent are moving to consolidate their respective positions. MBDA yesterday inaugurated a new permanent office in Brussels, which will be under the leadership of the manager Didier Gondallier de Tugny . The company thus strengthens its multinational presence, both in the European Union and in NATO. The idea is to support even more effectively the initiatives aimed at an ever greater cooperation in the European defense sector. THE REALITY OF MBDA
MBDA is controlled with equal corporate governance rules by Airbus, Bae System (both 37.5%) and Leonardo (25%) and is the only European group capable of designing and manufacturing missiles and missile systems that respond to the entire range of operational needs of the Armed Forces: land, air, sea. In 2020 it totaled 3.6 billion euros in revenues, and at the moment it is able to offer a range of 45 missile systems and countermeasures already in operational service, alongside 15 projects still under development. “MBDA represents a successful, one-of-a-kind model of an integrated European defense company,” said Eric Beranger, CEO of MBDA. “With over twelve thousand collaborating employees in France, the UK, Italy, Germany, and Spain, our European presence gives us the necessary critical mass to compete on the global market,” added the manager. “Over the last twenty years MBDA has accumulated extensive experience in international cooperation and with the new headquarters it wants to contribute to the collective success of the European defense agenda both within the EU and NATO”. INVOLVEMENT IN EUROPEAN DEFENSE
To achieve this objective, cooperation programs are essential, also to consolidate the role of successful champions, such as the reality of MBDA, in the European defense ecosystem. The current complex European defense framework (recounted here) is making progress on several lines, renewing its ambitions. MBDA now demonstrates that it intends to strengthen its significant role, already committed in the main European initiatives in the field of Defense, starting with the two precursor initiatives of the EDF (European Defense Fund): the preparatory action on research in the defense sector (Padr ), and the European Defense Industrial Development Program (Edidp). THE PESCO AND HYPERSONIC MISSILE PROJECTS
Two projects relating to missile systems that fall within the framework of the Pesco stand out, namely the permanent structured cooperation in the field of Defense. The projects in question are: Blos (beyond line of sight) and the Twister program (Timely warning and interception with space-based theater surveillance). In June last year, the European Commission selected LynkEUs, an MBDA project in the Edidp context (one of the two pilot programs of the Edf fund), which represents the first technological and industrial contribution to the achievement of the objectives of the Pesco Blos capacity project, approved in November 2018, and dedicated to the development of the new generation of medium-range missile systems to combat threats beyond the line of sight on the battlefield. Thanks to the association of 16 partners and subcontractors from all over the European Union, LynkEUs set out to define an initial operational concept for a European Blos capability. This will help develop a family of Blos missile systems under the total control of the European defense industry. While the Pesco Twister program, approved in November 2019, concerns the missile defense of six participating European countries, and aims to develop with the support of the EDF an innovative endo-atmospheric interceptor to face the growing emerging threats, starting from missiles. hypersonic. This will help develop a family of Blos missile systems under the total control of the European defense industry. While the Pesco Twister program, approved in November 2019, concerns the missile defense of six participating European countries, and aims to develop with the support of the EDF an innovative endo-atmospheric interceptor to face the growing emerging threats, starting from missiles. hypersonic. This will help develop a family of Blos missile systems under the total control of the European defense industry. While the Pesco Twister program, approved in November 2019, concerns the missile defense of six participating European countries, and aims to develop with the support of the EDF an innovative endo-atmospheric interceptor to face the growing emerging threats, starting from missiles. hypersonic.THE PREPARATORY PROGRAMS
The company is also part of several projects in the Padr field, including: Talos (direct energy laser weapon), Ocean 2020 (maritime surveillance), Salomon (technological independence), Exceed (creation of a supply chain for a family of systems on a chip), Optimise (activities on autonomous timing, positioning and navigation) and Interact (interoperability). As part of the Edidp, MBDA contributes to: Fires (artillery), Odin’s eye (early space warning), Jey-cuas (contrast to remotely piloted systems), Carmenta (self-protection systems) and Ai4def (artificial intelligence). What makes Mbda an example is not only its eminently European nature, but also its integration. “We are integrated as an organization that has always thrived on multi-national collaboration programs,Lorenzo Mariani , managing director of MBDA Italy, in an interview with Formiche.net. … AND IN NATO
This is also true in the NATO context. The strategic roadmap for 2030 of the Atlantic Alliance will increasingly assume the function of a central platform for transatlantic consultations in the defense sector. The needs of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which is working to develop the new “Strategic Concept”, are challenging both in terms of capabilities and in terms of interoperability. “Creating cooperation structures, such as Ground-Based Modular Air Defense (Gbad), will be functional in shaping common requirements to meet operational needs,” the MBDA note explains. “Important opportunities are also emerging in the context of new budgetary tools for the development of innovative and cutting-edge technologies,
