“Without an antenna, there is no missile,” says Éric, head of the department. “Our role is to ensure that every system can communicate, be guided, and operate with precision, whatever the conditions.”
The Antenna Department is based in central France. Small in size but big in mission, its team of specialists, engineers, and technicians is responsible for designing, developing, and producing the antennas used across MBDA’s full range of missiles and systems. Through its expertise and commitment, the department plays a key role in ensuring the operational effectiveness and reliability of MBDA’s capabilities.
Essential Expertise at the Heart of MBDA’s Systems
This department is central to the operational success of MBDA’s products. Each member contributes to a crucial mission: ensuring the quality, reliability, and performance of antennas, whether for GPS, telemetry, tracking, data link, or proximity fuzes.
Antennas, which come in various shapes and sizes, are a key component of electronic subsystems and form the interface between the missile and its environment. The team is involved throughout the entire product lifecycle: it performs simulations, prototyping, and RF characterisation of its products. It then participates in qualification tests, including shock, vibration and climate conditions. Finally, the team manages the production of small equipment batches. Indeed, their expertise extend to missile applications as well as land, naval, and airborne platforms.
The process is rigorously controlled: reception of the technical specifications from the customer, design the antenna tailored to the customer’s need using simulation tools. After selecting the appropriate antenna type (patch, helix, etc.), the team develops a qualification prototype. This prototype is then tested in collaboration with the Environmental Testing teams, before production begins. Throughout this process, radiation measurements are carried out either in an anechoic chamber or through outdoor testing.
A Department in Full Expansion
This increased capacity serves a threefold purpose: supporting MBDA’s expanding activities, welcoming new talent, and anticipating future needs associated with new generations of antennas. Today, the Antenna department produces several dozen units per year and aims to increase its design and production capacity to meet the rising demand.
“We operate in a niche field, but one with major strategic impact,” emphasises Éric.
Pushing the Boundaries of Antenna Innovation and Performance
To remain at the cutting edge of innovation, the department benefits from self-funded R&D programmes. It is also developing a network of scientific, industrial, and institutional cooperation, notably with the French Directorate General of Armament (DGA) and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) and fosters broader academic partnerships.
The department is now exploring new horizons:
- Miniaturisation and cost reduction without compromising performance,
- New generations of antennas,
- Exploration of AI for simulation and design,
- Electronic devices associated with antennas,
Always looking ahead, the team is firmly future-oriented and constantly striving to achieve ever-greater levels of performance. “We are now facing a major challenge: innovating to reduce both the size and cost of our antennas while preserving their operational performance,” summarises Éric. Involved in all major MBDA programmes, from AKERON to SEA VENOM, the Antenna Department embodies MBDA’s innovation capability and technological expertise. It is a true driver of the operational superiority of the sovereign systems developed by the Group.