“How did MBDA let the most successful anti-tank missile, MILAN, be overtaken by two new competitors?” BATTLESPACE Editor Julian Nettlefold asked Michael Wehner of MBDA at ILA
“Politics and the wish of Governments to proceed with the new Trigat technology meant that all development of Milan dried up in favour of Medium Range Trigat.”
“But Trigat stalled due to the collapse of the consortia and most went their own way.”
“Yes, it was a combination of price and competition.”
The U.K. was the first to pull out of Medium Range and then Long Range Trigat, in favour of Javelin and Brimstone respectively. Brimstone, in particular, relied on the Apache procurement and the Tiger offering from BAE was based more on the hope of Long Range Trigat than the Tiger machine itself.
“However, following experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan technology is moving away from fire-and-forget and optical guidance to wire guided, particularly in urban scenarios,” Wehner continued.
“So far the Javelin and Spike missiles have made limited penetration into our customer base, the U.K. and Spain, if that deal solidifies are the two exceptions. We have 400,000 missiles and 9,000 launchers with 40 countries. The new ER missile and launcher enables users to use older versions of the Milan missile,” he continued.
MILAN ER it combines offensive fire support (the most likely targets) with anti-armour (the most demanding targets). The MILAN ER has achieved a weight reduction of 20kgs through the introduction of digital technologies for the launcher which now has third generation thermal optical sight. In addition the range has been extended to 3000m from 2.5. In addition there is a new warhead that has new lethal technology achieving more than 10 calibre penetration. To defeat latest generation tanks uparmoured with RHA beyond 3rd generation ERA standards.
Infrastructure: penetration of more than 3m of reinforced concrete “Burst & Bust” secondary effects
Increased altitude up to 3 500 metres
“Who will be your launch customer?”
“The French Army is expected to be the launch customer after completion of trials in August 06 and we have strong interest from South Africa, India, Germany and the Middle East.”
MAIN ADVANTAGES
Continuity of MILAN:
Low cost
Portable accurate artillery
Direct attack mode
Day & Night, all-weather, all-terrain
Range extended to 3000 m
Multi-effect warhead
> 1000 mm against ERA-RHA
Digitized Firing Post for:
Remote-control firing
NCW compatibility
Updated training policy
Enhancement of existing training tools
MILAN ER uses the same instruction, maintenance and logistics concepts as the previous generation MILAN family
Maintenance-free ammunition
Weight 12.5 kg
Length 1 200 mm
Calibre 115 mm
Reusable firing post
Integrated thermal sight
Weight of Firing <20kg
Built-in testing