MBDA

History

The consolidation within Europe's missile industry began in 1996 when half of the missile business of Matra Hautes Technologies (the Matra conglomerate's aerospace, defence and telecommunications division) merged with the missile activities of BAe Dynamics (itself a division of British Aerospace) to form the 50/50 joint venture Matra BAe Dynamics (MBD). Three years later, the other half of Matra Hautes Technologies's missile business (Matra Missiles) and Aérospatiale's missile systems division were consolidated to form Aérospatiale Matra Missiles (AMM) following the merger between Aérospatiale and Matra Hautes Technologies in 1999. As a result of these developments, the new French corporation, Aérospatiale-Matra, not only had AAM as its wholly owned missile division but also now held Matra's 50% stake in MBD. In 2000, Aérospatiale-Matra merged with Germany's DASA and Spain's CASA to form the European Aeronautic Defence and Space or EADS (now rebranded Airbus); the latter thus gained ownership of all of Aérospatiale-Matra's assets, including its stakes in joint ventures; which is how Airbus came to be one of MBDA's three parent companies.

In 1998, GEC-Marconi Radar and Defence Systems (a subsidiary of GEC-Marconi) and (a subsidiary of Finmeccanica) combined their missile and radar activities to form the 50/50 joint venture Alenia Marconi Systems (AMS). In 1999, British Aerospace purchased and merged with GEC-Marconi to form BAE Systems. Thus the newly formed BAE Systems gained ownership of both BAe Dynamics' 50% stake in Matra BAe Dynamics and GEC-Marconi Radar and Defence Systems' 50% stake in Alenia Marconi Systems; while Alenia Difesa's 50% stake in the latter remained under the ownership of Finmeccanica, which would later be rebranded Leonardo.

In December 2001, AAM, MBD and the missile systems activities of AMS merged, thus founding MBDA. In March 2006, LFK-Lenkflugkörpersysteme GmbH (LFK), the German missile subsidiary of EADS, was acquired by MBDA. On 9 May 2012, it was rebranded MBDA Deutschland GmbH. Together with its subsidiaries TDW and Bayern-Chemie, it forms MBDA Germany. Since February 2002, MBDA has owned 40% of Inmize Sistemas S.L., a Spanish company that was formed to integrate the experience and technology of the major Spanish defence companies in the guided weapons sector. An office was opened in the country in 2010 to manage its local activities. As AMS had R&D assets located in California, MBDA also possess facilities in the United States, choosing to operate in the country via a wholly owned subsidiary called MBDA Inc. In December 2011, MBDA Inc acquired the Viper Strike activity of Northrop Grumman in Huntsville, Alabama.

Structure of the MBDA Group

MBDA sites

• MBDA in France
  • Le Plessis-Robinson ( MBDA Group headquarters)
  • Bourges Subdray
  • Bourges Aéroport
  • Selles-Saint-Denis
• MBDA in Germany
  • Schrobenhausen (MBDA Deutschland headquarters)
  • Aschau am Inn
  • Freienhausen (test center)
  • Hermeskeil
  • Ulm
• MBDA in Italy
  • La Spezia
  • Rome
  • Fusaro
• MBDA in the UK
  • Stevenage, Hertfordshire (MBDA UK headquarters)
  • Filton, Bristol
  • Bolton, Greater Manchester
• MBDA Inc. in the USA
  • Westlake Village, California
  • Washington, DC
  • Huntsville, Alabama

MBDA subsidiaries

• MBDA Deutschland GmbH
  • TDW GmbH
  • Bayern-Chemie

MBDA France and MBDA UK

Joint-ventures

• With European companies
  • Eurosam: JV comprising MBDA France, MBDA Italy and Thales.
  • MBDA Deutschland and Rheinmetall Waffe Munition.
  • RAM-System GmbH (RAMSYS): JV comprising MBDA Deutschland and Diehl Defence.
  • TAURUS Systems GmbH: JV comprising MBDA Deutschland and Saab.
• With American companies
  • COMLOG: JV comprising MBDA Deutschland and Raytheon.
• With Asian companies
  • L&T MBDA Missile Systems Limited: JV comprising MBDA and Larsen & Toubro.
  • MBDA Italy, MBDA UK and SAMI (Saudi Arabian Military Industries) JV.

Products

Current products

• Air-to-air missiles
  • ASRAAM - short range, IR guided
  • Meteor - long range, active radar terminal homing
  • MICA - IR and radar guided versions (also a surface-to-air missile)
  • Mistral ATAM
• Surface-to-air missiles
  • Missiles
    • CAMM family
    • Eurosam Aster family (in cooperation with Thales Group)
    • Mistral (also an air-to-air missile)
    • MICA VL
  • Air defence systems
    • Aspide / Spada 2000
    • Eurosam SAMP/T (in cooperation with Thales)
    • EMADS
    • MICA VL
    • PAAMS missile system comprising
      • Eurosam PAAMS(E)
      • UKAMS PAAMS(S)
    • Sky Warden / Sea Warden
• Air-to-surface weapons
  • ASMP - French nuclear-armed cruise missile
  • Brimstone
  • Diamond Back range extension kit for the SDB
  • PGM 500 and PGM 2000 guided missiles
  • Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG
  • Viper Strike
• Land-attack missile
  • MdCN
  • Crossbow (missile)
• Anti-ship missiles
  • Exocet (air-, surface ship-, coastal battery- and submarine-launched versions)
  • Marte (air-, surface ship- and coastal battery-launched versions)
  • Otomat/Teseo
• Anti-tank missiles
  • Akeron MP
  • Enforcer
  • MILAN

Production ended

• Surface-to-air missiles

  • Rapier
  • Sea Wolf

• Air-to-surface weapons

  • Apache
  • AS-30L
  • Laser-Guided Zuni

• Anti-ship missiles

  • Sea Eagle

• Anti-tank missiles

  • Eryx
  • HOT
  • PARS 3 LR - long range (together with Diehl BGT Defence)

Cancelled weapons

• Next Generation Multiple Warhead System
• Surface-to-air missiles
  • Missiles
    • LFK NG (together with Diehl BGT Defence)
  • Air defence systems
    • MEADS

Programmes under development

Products in development

• Nuclear weapons
  • ASN4G
• Cruise missiles
  • Stratus (missile family) (formally known as FC/ASW)
    • STRATUS RS - air/ship launched, supersonic, high manoeuvrability
    • STRATUS LO - air/ship launched, stealthy, subsonic
  • Joint Fire Support Missile (JFS-M)
  • Sea Venom
• Air-to-surface weapons
  • AKERON LP, formerly known as the MAST-F (Missile Air-Sol Tactique Futur) anti-tank missile for the Eurocopter Tiger and the Eurodrone.
• Surface-to-air missiles
  • DefendAir (VSHORAD)
  • Fulgur (missile) (VSHORAD)
• Drones
  • Loitering munitions:
    • Akeron RCX 50
    • Akeron RCH 170
  • MBDA OWE (One-Way Effector) - long range attack drones

Controversies

Data breach

In August 2022, MBDA Missile Systems' data was hacked from a compromised external hard drive. The data allegedly included blueprints of NATO weapons used in the Russo-Ukrainian War, and 80 Gb of such data was sold for 15 Bitcoin. NATO started an investigation trying to assess and minimize the impact of this data breach.

References

References

1. Hepher, Tim. (2019-05-15). "MBDA boss faces battle of wits as Airbus strategy chief".
2. (2024-03-22). "MBDA expects orders, revenue in Italy to dip this year after new records in 2023".
3. "ABOUT US".
4. [http://www.mbda-systems.com/mbda/site/ref/scripts/EN_Locations_38.html MBDA • European centres of excellence] {{webarchive. link. (2010-12-06)
5. [http://www.mbdainc.com/corporate/ MBDA Inc. US Division Corporate Page] {{webarchive. link. (2011-07-14)
6. "History".
7. "MBDA - Company Profile".
8. "MBDA WORLDWIDE".
9. "MBDA HISTORY".
10. "History".
11. "European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company {{!}} European consortium".
12. Judge, Ben. (30 November 2015). "30 November 1999: BAE Systems formed in £7.7bn merger". Dennis Publishing Ltd.
13. (2001-12-21). "EADS, BAE and Finmeccanica Complete MBDA Merger". Defense Daily International.
14. (12 December 2011). "MBDA purchases Northrop Grumman's Viper Strike munitions business".
15. DE, MBDA. (2017-07-16). "Standorte".
16. "MBDA in Italy, Excellence at your side {{!}} MBDA".
17. "MBDA in the UK, Excellence at your side {{!}} MBDA".
18. "Contact us".
19. [http://www.mbdainc.com/corporate/ MBDA Inc. US Division Corporate Page] {{webarchive. link. (2011-07-14)
20. "TDW Warhead Systems – An MBDA Company – Technology with Impact".
21. DE, MBDA. (2017-07-16). "Bayern-Chemie GmbH".
22. "MBDA makes Roxel a wholly-owned subsidiary {{!}} MBDA".
23. "European Joint Venture".
24. "Rheinmetall and MBDA win contract for high-energy laser system".
25. "Rheinmetall and MBDA Deutschland sign cooperation agreement".
26. Aktuell, Militaer. (2024-11-21). "RAM GMLS order for Diehl & MBDA joint venture".
27. "Modernizing TAURUS for the Bundeswehr {{!}} MBDA".
28. "NSPA awards COMLOG a contract for Patriot missiles".
29. (2024-06-08). "MBDA Deutschland und Raytheon arbeiten an Serienproduktion der Patriot GEM-T".
30. "L&T MBDA Missile Systems".
31. (2024-09-02). "Saudi SAMI and MBDA JV to localize CAMM missiles production".
32. "EMADS {{!}} MBDA".
33. "SKY WARDEN {{!}} MBDA".
34. "SEA WARDEN {{!}} MBDA".
35. https://www.mbda-systems.com/mbda-launch-crossbowtm-one-way-effector-heavy-dsei
36. (2025-12-02). "Royal Navy’s Type 26 Frigates Will Be Armed With Stratus Stealth Cruise Missile".
37. (5 March 2021). "Taktisches Luftverteidigungssystem".
38. (2025-02-06). "France: successful firing of AKERON LP missile marks milestone for MAST-F programme".
39. Valpolini, Paolo. (2025-04-04). "SOFINS 2025 - MBDA France: the Akeron family grows with two loitering munitions".
40. (2025-06-16). "MBDA presents a long-range attack drone designed to be produced at 1000 units per month!".
41. (26 August 2022). "Nato investigates hacker sale of missile firm data". BBC News.