MBDA has received notification of a new 66.5 million euro contract for Eryx.

This contract, dated 29th December 2006, covers the acquisition of both training and combat missiles for delivery to the French Army between the second half of 2008 and the end of 2011. A small quantity of the missiles ordered will go to the French Navy for its Marine Commando forces. A second follow-up contract is also expected to cover the modernisation of the Eryx system tripod.

With this new order, France has confirmed its decision to base its anti-tank operational capability up to 2020 on the Eryx missile which first entered service in 1993 and has since been used regularly in operations.

Marwan Lahoud, MBDA’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “This important order is a vote of confidence in the Eryx system and therefore very good news for MBDA”.

Didier Evrard, Managing Director of MBDA France and Group Director of Product Lines, stated: “The choice made by the French Army is further proof of the Eryx missile’s major qualities which will ensure that the French armed forces have an anti-tank capability of the first order up to 2020. I congratulate all those within MBDA involved in this programme”.