MBDA strengthens European presence with opening of a permanent office in Brussels
MBDA inaugurated
its new permanent office in Brussels on 9 November, strengthening its
multinational presence close to the institutions of the European Union (EU) and
NATO to better support their initiatives towards more European defence
co-operation.
Eric Béranger, CEO of MBDA, said: “MBDA fully supports the objectives of
the EU and NATO to deepen their initiatives towards defence co-operation
between participating countries. MBDA is a unique and successful model of a
European integrated defence company. With more than 12,000 people working
together across France, the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain, our large European
footprint gives us the critical mass to compete on the global market. Over the
last 20 years, MBDA has built a strong track record of international
co-operations and through this new office, we are looking forward to contributing
our experience to the collective success of the European defence agenda in both
its EU and NATO dimensions. Key to this are co-operation programmes, which are
the ‘engine’ for the creation and consolidation within the European defence
ecosystem of globally successful champions such as MBDA.”
The EU is making swift progress on enacting its ambitions for European
Defence across its institutions. MBDA is at the heart of this effort, leading
on two missile system centric-projects developed under the Permanent Structured
Cooperation (PESCO) framework - BLOS (Beyond Line Of Sight) and TWISTER (Timely
Warning and Interception with Space-based TheatER surveillance). MBDA is also
an active participant in a number of Preparatory Action on Defence Research
(PADR) and European Defence Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP)
initiatives, precursor programmes to the European Defence Fund (EDF), now into
force, which will accelerate the collaborative development of new capability
priorities and supplement national funding on topics with a high European
added-value.
NATO’s new 2030 strategic roadmap will strengthen its role as the
central platform for transatlantic defence consultations. NATO demands are high
in capability and interoperability terms. The set-up of collaborative
frameworks, such as Modular Ground Based Air Defence (GBAD), will help shaping
common requirements to satisfy operational needs and the perspective of new
budgetary instruments focused on cutting-edge and disruptive technologies (NATO
Innovation Fund and DIANA) are promising opportunities for an innovation-driven
company like MBDA.
Didier Gondallier de Tugny is the Head of the MBDA Brussels Office for
the Group.
Notes
to editors:
About BLOS:
The European Commission selected LynkEUs, an MBDA European Defence
Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP) co-ordinated project, in June 2020.
LynkEUs is the first technological and industrial contribution to the
objectives of the PESCO BLOS capability project (approved in November 2018).
Associating 16 partners and sub-contractors from Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia,
France and Sweden, the LynkEUs project seeks to define an initial operational
concept for a European BLOS capability. It will also provide an opportunity to
identify and test emerging solutions of potential value for future upgrades to
the capability. The concepts and tests completed for the PESCO BLOS project
will contribute to the development of a family of man-on-the loop BLOS missile
systems with back image, based on the MMP missile system, and under the full
control of Europe’s defence industry. Further enhancements of this capability
and the development of new functionalities, such as collaborative engagement
and training systems, are fully eligible to an EDF support.
About TWISTER:
This PESCO capability project was endorsed in November 2019. A European missile
defence project that already includes six participating member states (France,
Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Finland), it seeks in particular to
develop, with support from the EDF, a European disruptive endo-atmospheric
interceptor to address emerging and complex air threats (hypersonic cruise
missiles, hypersonic glide vehicles, manoeuvring ballistic missiles) in decades
to come.
Preparatory Action on Defence
Research (PADR) and European Defence Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP)
MBDA also participates actively in the preparatory actions of the
European Defence Fund (EDF). MBDA is part of the following selected PADR
projects: TALOS (laser DEW), OCEAN 2020 (maritime awareness), SALOMON
(technological independence), EXCEED (FPGA), OPTIMISE (PNT) and INTERACT (UxV
interoperability). MBDA is also part of the following selected EDIDP projects:
LynkEUs, FITS4TOP (fast-jet training), FIRES (artillery), ODIN’S EYE (space-based early warning), JEY-CUAS (CUAS), CARMENTA (self-protection systems) and AI4DEF (AI).
----------------------------
About
MBDA:
MBDA is the only European defence group capable of
designing and producing missiles and missile systems that correspond to the
full range of current and future operational needs of the three armed forces
(land, sea and air). With a significant presence in five European countries and
within the USA, in 2020 MBDA achieved revenue of 3.6 billion euros with an
order book of 16.6 billion euros. With more than 90 armed forces customers in
the world, MBDA is a world leader in missiles and missile systems. In total,
the group offers a range of 45 missile systems and countermeasures products
already in operational service and more than 15 others currently under
development. MBDA is jointly owned by Airbus (37.5%), BAE Systems (37.5%), and
Leonardo (25%).