France receives first MMP weapon systems

The French armed forces has received the first batch of 50 missiles and 20 firing posts of the medium-range Missile Moyen Portee (MMP) missile, MBDA announced on 30 November.

The MMP will gradually replace the MILAN anti-tank system currently in service with the French Army. The weapon system will be issued to French Army infantry and cavalry units and special forces of the army, navy and air force.

The MMP programme will see the delivery of 400 firing posts and 1,750 missiles across all of the French armed forces by 2025. The first deliveries will be used to train future users and the weapon system will be operationally deployed from 2018. The French Defence Procurement Agency qualified the system in July 2016, paving the way for serial production.

The MMP is effective against a wide range of ground targets, including armoured and non-armoured vehicles and infrastructure. It offers both fire-and-forget and man-in-the-loop capabilities - the first enables fixed or mobile targets to be hit without intervention by the operator during the missile’s flight; the second allows the operator to change targets mid-flight, to refine the point of impact, or to divert the missile, while also opening up the possibility of firing at hidden targets beyond the direct line of sight.

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