Enforcer in new test firings

The development programme for the Enforcer lightweight missile has chalked up new test firings at the German military’s Technical Center for Weapons and Ammunition 91. MBDA announced the firings on 15 December.

Prototype firings were conducted at ranges of between 1,000m to 2,000m, with the missile guided ‘directly to the centre’ of each intended target. One of the missiles used the new lightweight, carbon-fibre launching tube developed by MBDA in Italy. According to the company, the firings confirmed expectations with regard to the weapon’s homing head.

MBDA plans to begin qualification of the compact missile over the next few years, followed by preparations for series production. One of the focus areas of the programme is the German forces’ night fighting capability requirement, which will see more guided firings take place in 2017.

Peter Heilmeier, MBDA Deutschland’s vice president sales and business development, said: ‘These tests have topped off a successful year of Enforcer development, a year we can look back on and recognise numerous successful firings and other tests. The direct hits demonstrate that we have made an important step forward in the development programme.’