Mistral missile in new demonstration
MBDA has successfully demonstrated the anti-surface capabilities of the Mistral missile against fast inshore attack craft using a SIMBAD-RC automated naval turret, the company announced on 9 January.
The firing saw the missile fired from land against a fast moving remotely-controlled semi-rigid boat more than 3km off the coast. The demonstration was intended to assess the self-protection capability of a vessel against an asymmetric threat such as commando or terrorist attack.
The Mistral is an air defence missile equipped with an imaging infrared seeker with advanced image processing capabilities that allows it to engage low thermal signature targets - such as UAS, missiles and fast boats - from a long distance.
The SIMBAD-RC is a remotely-controlled very short range naval air defence system that provides efficient capacities against a wide range of threats including combat aircraft, anti-ship missiles and small-sized threats such as UAS. Each turret supports two ready-to-fire Mistral missiles.
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