To cope with the deterioration of the security situation on the European continent, France, the United Kingdom and Italy have placed 218 ASTER anti-aircraft missiles whose delivery will be accelerated, the French Ministry of the Army announced on Friday, March 14. This joint acquisition is part of a framework order of nearly 700 missiles placed in December 2022 by the three countries.
“Stimulating the transformation of the production tool, this new order will also have earlier delivery, from 2025, of the 134 missiles previously ordered”judge on X the Minister of French Armies, Sébastien Lecornu.
The missiles ordered are ASTER 30 B1 missiles, version of the machine which has not yet entered service. These missiles will equip the future version of the French and Italian SAMP defense system as well as the air defense frigates of the three countries.
Entry into service planned in 2026
Produced by the European manufacturer MBDA, the ASTER 30 B1 missile, which is to enter service in 2026, will have the capacity to reach a flying target at 25,000 meters above sea level at 150 kilometers around. In addition to planes, it will have the capacity to intercept medium -range ballistic missiles, as well as so -called hypersonic missiles, flying at more than Mach 5 (6,000 km/h).
The contract also includes an unspecified number of ASTER 15 missiles, at the smaller, for French navy ships. The amount of this order was not communicated. The price of an ASTER 30 missile is estimated at more than 2 million euros, according to a report from the French Institute of International Relations.
Committed to an increase in the rate of its production to provide countries that are rearrupply, MBDA has increased its production of ASTER missiles by 50 % since 2022 and plans to reduce its production times, from forty-two months in 2022 to less than eighteen months in 2026.