The French Army is preparing for the first operational deployment of its Missile Moyenne Portée
The French Army is preparing for the first operational deployment of its new 140mm calibre digital Missile Moyenne Portée (MMP) land combat system.
Major Jean-Luc Dietler of the Section Technique de l’Armée de Terre (STAT) at the French Ministry of Defence told Jane’s that manportable MMP systems will be deployed with four French Army Regiments – 2e Régiment Etranger d'Infanterie, 2e Régiment Etranger Parachutistes, 1er Régiment de Hussards Parachutistes, and 3e Régiment de Hussards – and a French Army Special Forces Regiment, in support of Operation ‘Barkhane’ in Mali in June or September this year.
STAT – the technical section of the French Army – is responsible in co-ordination with the Direction générale de l'armement (DGA: Directorate General of Armaments) for leading and evaluating all weapons programmes for the French air and land forces.
Developed by MBDA in France for a French Army requirement, the MMP is intended to replace the MBDA Milan and Lockheed Martin/Raytheon FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) systems currently in service with the army and special forces, and the Euromissile HOT (Haut subsonique Optiquement Téléguidé Tiré d’un Tube) and MBDA Eryx ATGMs mounted on the army’s Véhicule de l’avant blindé (VAB) 6x6 armoured personnel carriers.
Conceived as both a manportable and vehicle-mounted combat missile system, the MMP will be interoperable with the French Army’s FÉLIN (Fantassin à Équipement et Liaisons Intégrés) future infantry programme. It will also be integrated with the Nexter Systems CT40M 40mm turret selected to equip the French Army’s future 6×6 Engin Blindé de Reconnaissance et de Combat (EBRC: armoured combat and reconnaissance vehicle, designated ‘Jaguar’) as part of the Engin Blindé Multi-Rôles (EBMR) multirole armoured vehicles segment of the French Army’s estimated EUR5 billion (USD 5.93 billion) Scorpion modernisation programme.
Janes