Mistral 3 in test firing demo

MBDA’s Mistral 3 missile has taken part in a test firing to demonstrate its enhanced capabilities, the company announced on 15 November.

The demonstration saw the missile intercept a moving target at a range of over seven kilometres.

The firing was carried out on a small Mirach 40 target, from a complete installation including a Saab Giraffe 1Xradar system, a Licorne command and control unit, and an Atlas RC launcher. 

Currently in service with French forces, the Mistral 3 missile is an air defence missile equipped with an infrared imaging seeker and advanced image processing capabilities. This allows it to engage low thermal signature targets such as; UAVs, turbojet-powered missiles and fast craft at long range, while offering excellent resistance to countermeasures.

A second demonstration was carried out to show the missile’s capabilities in a counter-UAS role. Several Licorne systems using different configurations of sensors (Saab 1X radar, IR monitoring, remotely operated cameras) and launchers (Atlas RC and MANPAD) were deployed to illustrate the overall performance of the system against UAVs, and the ability of the missile to lock on to this type of target.