SCALP Naval

Conventionally armed naval stand-off land attack missile 

The ability to strike and destroy or neutralise targets such as military and economic infrastructures with metric precision from extended stand-off ranges has become a key operational requirement.

MBDA’s experience in this area has already been proven with the development and entry into service of the Storm Shadow / SCALP air-launched cruise missile. However, to provide modern armed forces with the added flexibility of a deep strike capability from a mix of air and naval platforms MBDA is now developing SCALP Naval. This requirement has been expressed by the French DGA (Délégation Générale pour l’Armement) and SCALP Naval will in due course provide the French Navy with a long-range cruise missile capable of being launched from surface ships and submarines.


The new weapon system will provide a deep strike capability that can be delivered from platforms that, unlike aircraft, can be pre-positioned in theatre, can stay in theatre for extended periods and can impose their presence on several theatres of operations simultaneously. The strategic implications and messages communicated to a potential foe are clear during a phase of force build up or as a warning/preventative measure in the face of threatened aggression. Operations could also include protection against threat proliferation as well as force projection. Significantly, SCALP Naval will provide the ability to strike rapidly and strike first while minimising collateral damage. Submarine launch of course provides the option of a furtive, surprise attack thereby avoiding potential retaliation. Of course even the knowledge that a submarine armed with such a long range capability could be lurking unseen some way off the coast could have the desired psychological effect.

SCALP Naval benefits from the air-launched experience and equipment developed during the Storm Shadow / SCALP programme with obvious cost and technology advantages to the customer. The new missile draws extensively from the functional architecture of the air-launched variant with commonality apparent in such elements as: propulsion; autonomous navigation and guidance and automatic target recognition. Mission planning for both naval and air variants of the MBDA cruise missile family is a common function, optimising the combined deployment from different platforms should this be called for by the mission in hand.

SCALP Naval will be vertically launched from France’s future FREMM frigates using the compact A70 vertical launcher (in development with DCNS) which is also capable of housing other MBDA missiles such as the ASTER family of air-defence missiles. On France’s future Barracuda nuclear-powered attack submarines, SCALP Naval will be launched through the torpedo tubes. On entering cruise phase, SCALP Naval will behave as the air-launched Storm Shadow / SCALP.

Programme status

In December 2006, MBDA received the notification from the DGA of the development and production contract for MdCN (Missile de Croisière Naval).
Aerodynamic trials have recently been completed at the ONERA wind tunnel facility in Modane, France. Also during 2008, various aspects of the system have been validated such as general missile architecture, launch platform interfaces and mission planning. Several partial sub-component trials have also been carried out during the year including the first test at system level – a test firing of a missile mock-up fitted with the booster system within the launcher to verify safety aspects.

Test firings of the SCALP Naval missile will commence in 2009. FREMM is expected to be equipped with the SCALP Naval system as of 2013 and Barracuda as of 2015.