MBDA and Saab strengthen partnership on anti-tank and air defence systems

MBDA and Saab have signed Letters of Intent (LoI) to strengthen their cooperation in anti-tank and air defence capabilities during a French-Swedish forum.

The areas of anti-tank and air defence were identified as critical for the armed forces of both countries in the context of high-intensity conflicts.

Collaboration between the multinational MBDA and Sweden on anti-tank capabilities began in July 2017 when the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) issued a tender for the procurement of a new anti-tank missile system, to be known as the RBS 58, as a replacement for the in-service RBS 5.

The tender concluded with the signing in July 2021 of an LoI between the French and Swedish governments to co-develop a new anti-tank missile for the Swedish armed forces based on the MBDA Akeron MP.

In April 2023, the French and Swedish governments signed a bilateral accord regarding the development of a Swedish version of the MBDA Akeron MP anti-tank missile and the development of future variants of the missile.

A first contract has been awarded to Saab and MBDA by the French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA) and the FMV.

“This will enable the pooling of Saab and MBDA’s expertise in the anti-tank domain, in order to support the Swedish and French armed forces’ choice of the AKERON MP weapon system in the short term,” the companies noted.

“This will also enable the implementation of a joint capability roadmap to develop new functionalities associated in particular with beyond line-of-sight firing, and also to prepare the missile to address the future generation of targets that will arrive on the battlefield.”

Saab and MBDA have also been collaborating on the Meteor air-to-air missile programme and the TAURUS cruise missile.

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