Euronaval: MdCN completes final qualification firing

The final qualification firing of the MdCN missile (Missile de Croisière Naval, also known as NCM or Naval Cruise Missile) has been conducted by the French DGA on 27 October at the DGA’s Missile Test Centre at Biscarrosse on the French Atlantic coast, clearing the way for integration onto the French Navy vessels from 2015.

The qualification test represented a missile launch from a frigate. According to MBDA, the firing satisfied the full scope of flight objectives, particularly with regards to demonstrating the missile’s range performance.

The missile will equip the French Navy’s FREMM multi-mission frigates in 2015 and its Barracuda submarines in around 2018.

With a range of several hundred kilometres, MdCN is designed to strike targets deep within enemy territory. It complements the in-service French SCALP and UK STORM SHADOW air-launched cruise missile, from which it is derived.

Carried on surface warships positioned safely for prolonged periods in international waters, overtly on frigates or discreetly on submarines, MdCN has been designed for operations calling for the destruction of high value, strategic infrastructures.

The system was developed by MBDA under a contract from the DGA signed in 2006.