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Australian-owned NIOA and multinational European defence company MBDA have signed a memorandum of understanding on Mistral missile solutions.
The agreement is designed to explore options for assembly or production of Australian-made warheads for the Mistral suite of missiles and becoming part of the global Mistral supply chain.
Under the agreement, signed at the Indo Pacific International Maritime Exposition in Sydney, Australia could become the first country outside of France to produce the advanced air defence missile systems.
NIOA Group chief executive officer Rob Nioa said the newly inked agreement between NIOA and MBDA supports the Australian government’s Defence Industry Development Strategy for closer industrial collaboration with trusted international partners.
“MBDA are world leaders in the missile industry. With the Australian government’s focus on domestic manufacturing of a wider range of munitions and the expansion of partnerships with industry, the timing is right for NIOA and MBDA to take this first and significant step,” Nioa said.
“Co-design, co-development, co-production and co-sustainment of capabilities such as Mistral missiles will make effective use of combined resources, strengthening collective defence industrial capacity, enhancing interoperability and accelerating technology development.”
The French-made Mistral is a very short-range air defence (VSHORAD) system that works on a “fire-and-forget” mode with a high manoeuvrability supersonic speed, guaranteeing a short interception time.
These functionalities allow it to intercept a wide variety of threats, from aircraft to helicopters, drones, cruise missiles, missile-capable navy gunboats and loitering munitions.
“MBDA is pleased to enter into this MOU with NIOA. Both businesses have complementary experiences in delivering world-leading products for their customers,” said Pierre-Marie Belleau, MBDA business development executive.
“Mistral is a class-leading VSHORAD capability, ideally suited as an effector in a multi-layered and integrated air defence.
“NIOA is playing a key role in delivering munitions for the Australian Defence Force. Together, we can provide the solutions to counter the evolving drone threat armed forces now face and deliver the best VSHORAD capability available on the market.”
“Industrial cooperation and partnering with domestic companies for local production is a core part of the MBDA DNA … Signing this MOU is an example of MBDA’s commitment to this.”
Mistral’s multi-domain (land, maritime and air) lethality, versatility and portability – it can be used in a man-portable launcher or integrated onto launch platforms – has made it the air defence weapon of choice for allied militaries.
The latest Mistral 3 has a success rate of more than 98 per cent and such is the demand from European allies that MBDA recently delivered its 2,000th missile.
