The French Armed Forces Ministry has received a first set of 50 missiles and 20 firing posts of the medium-range MMP missile, the government procurement office said.
DGA said in a statement: “France’s defence procurement agency, the Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA), has accepted the delivery to the French Armed Forces of the first batch of 50 missiles and 20 firing posts from the new MMP system.”
The French authorities ordered the MMP in 2013 from MBDA after rival pitches from the Javelin joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Raytheon and from Rafael for the Spike.
The MMP will be deployed next year, arming ground troops, cavalry units and special forces. The weapon is due to arm the Jaguar combat and reconnaissance vehicle under the Scorpion programme, with its first delivery in 2020.
The missile has a range of 4,000 metres and is designed to knock out tanks, with a capability to strike from above in the last phase of flight.
The weapon is intended to be precise enough to be guided through a window to hit enemies inside a building and avoid harming civilians.
Troops can also fire the missile from inside a room — a key capability in urban combat.
