MBDA is a European multinational developer and manufacturer of

missiles In military terminology, a missile is a guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously unguided rocket i ...

.MBDA Inc. US Division Corporate Page
It was created in December 2001 after the

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

of the main French, British and Italian missile systems companies. They were the missile businesses of

Aérospatiale Aérospatiale (), sometimes styled Aerospatiale, was a French state-owned aerospace manufacturer that built both civilian and military aircraft, rockets and satellites. It was originally known as Société nationale industrielle aérospatiale ( ...

Matra Matra (an acronym for Mécanique Aviation Traction) was a French industrial conglomerate. During its years of operation, it was engaged in a wide range of business activities, primarily focused around automobiles, bicycles, aeronautics and wea ...

(merged into EADS, now called

Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: '' ...

), BAE Systems and Finmeccanica (now Leonardo). "MBDA" is an initialism of the names of said missile businesses:

BAe Dynamics British Aerospace Dynamics Limited (BADL or BAe Dynamics) was a division of British Aerospace. History British Aerospace was created in April 1977 by the merger of the British Aircraft Corporation, Hawker Siddeley Aviation, Hawker Siddeley D ...

and Alenia. The company's headquarters are located in

Le Plessis-Robinson Le Plessis-Robinson () is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. , it has 29,100 inhabitants. History Plessis was first mentioned in 839 as ''Plessiacus apud Castanetum'', meaning ''ples ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. Despite being a European

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

, MBDA has maintained national divisions since its creation: MBDA France, MBDA UK and MBDA Italy. They were formed by simply grouping in their respective countries the assets and activities of the various French, British and Italian businesses that had merged to create MBDA. In March 2006, LFK-Lenkflugkörpersysteme GmbH, the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

missile subsidiary of EADS, was acquired by MBDA and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

assets followed in 2010, leading to the formation of two additional national divisions (MBDA Germany and MBDA Spain). In 2016, the company had more than 10,500 employees. In 2017, MBDA recorded orders for €4.2 bn and an order book of €16.8 bn. MBDA works with over 90 armed forces worldwide and also has a number of subsidiaries, including one in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

(MBDA Inc).

History

The consolidation of Europe's missile companies began in 1996 when parts of Matra Defence and

merged their missile activities to form Matra BAe Dynamics (MBD). Matra BAe Dynamics represented half of Matra Hautes Technologies' missile business; the other half was Matra Missiles which became Aérospatiale-Matra Missiles (AMM). In 1999, Matra group merged with

. In 2000, Aérospatiale-Matra became part of EADS (now

). In 1998, GEC-Marconi Radar and Defence Systems and Alenia Difesa combined their missile and

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

activities to form

Alenia Marconi Systems Alenia Marconi Systems (AMS) was a major European integrated defence electronics company and an equal shares joint venture between BAE Systems and Finmeccanica (now Leonardo S.p.A.) until its dissolution on 3 May 2005. AMS was formed in 1998 by ...

(AMS). In 1999, British Aerospace purchased GEC's defence business to form BAE Systems. In December 2001, MBD (including AMM) and the Missile and Missile Systems activities of AMS merged, creating MBDA. In June 2005, LFK, a unit of Airbus Defence and Security Systems, agreed to be merged into MBDA. On 1 March 2006, LFK became MBDA Germany. ON 9 May 2012, the LFK-Lenkflugkörpersysteme GmbH became

MBDA Deutschland GmbH MBDA Deutschland GmbH is a German missile systems company. Together with its 100% subsidiaries Bayern-Chemie and TDW and various Joint Ventures, it forms MBDA Germany. The company is a legally independent 100% subsidiary of MBDA which belongs to ...

. Since February 2002, MBDA has owned 40% of

Inmize {{Infobox company , name = Inmize Sistemas, S.L. , logo = , foundation = 6 February 2002 , location = San Fernando de Henares, Community of Madrid, Spain , industry = Defence , services = IT systems and services for defence , parent = MBD ...

Sistemas S.L., a Spanish company that was formed to integrate the experience and technology of the major Spanish defence companies in the guided weapons sector. As AMS had R&D assets located in California, MBDA also managed to acquire development and production facilities in the United States, choosing to operate in the country as a wholly-owned subsidiary, called MBDA Inc. In December 2011, MBDA Inc acquired the

Viper Strike The GBU-44/B Viper Strike glide bomb was a GPS-aided laser-guided variant of the Northrop Grumman Brilliant Anti-Tank (BAT) munition which originally had a combination acoustic and infrared homing seeker. The system was initially intended for use ...

activity of

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military tec ...

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in th ...

. In August 2022, MBDA Missile Systems' data was hacked from a compromised external hard drive. The data included blueprints of weapons used by NATO allies in the Ukraine conflict, and 80 GB of such data was sold for 15 Bitcoin. NATO started an investigation trying to assess and minimize the impact of this data breach.

Products

Overall, the group has 45 products in service and 15 more in development. MBDA's products include: *

Air-to-air missile The newest and the oldest member of Rafael's Python family of AAM for comparisons, Python-5 (displayed lower-front) and Shafrir-1 (upper-back) An air-to-air missile (AAM) is a missile fired from an aircraft for the purpose of destroying ...

s: **

ASRAAM The Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM), also known by its United States designation AIM-132, is an imaging infrared homing (heat seeking) air-to-air missile, produced by MBDA UK, that is designed for close-range combat. It is in ...

- short range, IR guided **

Meteor A meteoroid () is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space. Meteoroids are defined as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to a meter wide. Objects smaller than this are classified as mic ...

- long range, active radar terminal homing **

MICA Micas ( ) are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into extremely thin elastic plates. This characteristic is described as perfect basal cleavage. Mica is ...

- IR and radar guided versions (also SAM) *

Surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...

s: **

Aspide Aspide (the Italian name for the asp) is an Italian medium range air-to-air and surface-to-air missile produced by Selenia (then by Alenia Aeronautica, now a part of Leonardo S.p.A.). It is provided with semi-active radar homing seeker. It is ...

** CAMM (air, land and naval versions) ** Eurosam Aster - medium (Aster 15) and long range (Aster 30) SAMs land and naval versions ** LFK NG (together with Diehl BGT Defence) **

Mistral Mistral may refer to: * Mistral (wind) in southern France and Sardinia Automobiles * Maserati Mistral, a Maserati grand tourer produced from 1963 until 1970 * Nissan Mistral, or Terrano II, a Nissan 4×4 produced from 1993 until 2006 * Micropl ...

(also AAM) **

Rapier A rapier () or is a type of sword with a slender and sharply-pointed two-edged blade that was popular in Western Europe, both for civilian use (dueling and self-defense) and as a military side arm, throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. Impo ...

** Sea Wolf *

Air-to-surface missile An air-to-surface missile (ASM) or air-to-ground missile (AGM) is a missile designed to be launched from military aircraft at targets on land or sea. There are also unpowered guided glide bombs not considered missiles. The two most common pro ...

s: ** Apache **

AS-30L The AS-30 was an air-to-ground missile built by Nord Aviation. It was a precision attack weapon designed to be used against high-value targets such as bridges and bunkers. The AS-30 was essentially a larger version of the earlier AS-20 design, a ...

** ASMPA - French

nuclear Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics *Nuclear space * Nuclear ...

missile In military terminology, a missile is a missile guidance, guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously ...

** Brimstone ** Diamond Back range extension kit for the SDB **

PGM 500 The PGM 500 and PGM 2000 are guided bombs developed by Alenia Marconi Systems and now marketed by MBDA. The PGM 500 carries a 500 lb (227 kg) warhead, and the PGM 2000 a 2000 lb (909 kg) one. The weapons are available with int ...

and PGM 2000 guided missiles ** Laser-Guided Zuni ** Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG **

Anti-ship missile An anti-ship missile (AShM) is a guided missile that is designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea skimming variety, and many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. A good ...

s: **

Exocet The Exocet () is a French-built anti-ship missile whose various versions can be launched from surface vessels, submarines, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. Etymology The missile's name was given by M. Guillot, then the technical directo ...

(air-, surface ship-, coastal battery- and submarine-launched versions) ** Marte (air-, surface ship- and coastal battery-launched versions) ** Otomat/Teseo ** Perseus (CVS401) **

Sea Eagle A sea eagle or fish eagle (also called erne or ern, mostly in reference to the white-tailed eagle) is any of the birds of prey in the genus ''Haliaeetus'' in the bird of prey family Accipitridae. Taxonomy and evolution The genus ''Haliaeetus'' ...

** Sea Venom *

Anti-tank missile An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-tank missile, anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) or anti-armor guided weapon is a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy heavily armored military vehicles. ATGMs range in size from shoulder ...

s: ** Enforcer - shoulder-launched guided rocket **

Eryx Eryx is a French short-range portable semi-automatic command to line of sight (SACLOS) based wire-guided anti-tank missile (ATGM) manufactured by MBDA France and by MKEK under licence. The weapon can also be used against larger bunkers and small ...

- short range **

HOT Hot or the acronym HOT may refer to: Food and drink *Pungency, in food, a spicy or hot quality *Hot, a Wine tasting descriptors#D–H, wine tasting descriptor Places *Hot district, a district of Chiang Mai province, Thailand **Hot subdistrict, ...

MILAN Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

Missile Moyenne Portée The Akeron MP (''Akeron Moyenne Portée''), * Fire-and-Forget * Man In The Loop with optical fiber data-link * Lock-on after launch (LOAL) for non-line-of-sight (NLOS) and using third party target designation. Despite these new features, it ...

(MMP) **

PARS 3 LR The PARS 3 LR in German service, also known as TRIGAT-LR (Third Generation AntiTank, Long Range) and AC 3G in French, is a fire-and-forget missile, which can be used against air or ground targets. It is intended for long range applications and ...

- long range (together with Diehl BGT Defence) * Systems ** Eurosam SAMP/T **

MEADS The Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) is a ground-mobile air and missile defense system intended to replace the Patriot missile system through a NATO-managed development. The program is a development of the United States, Germany and It ...

** Next Generation Multiple Warhead System **

PAAMS The Principal Anti-Air Missile System (PAAMS) is a joint programme developed by France, Italy, and the United Kingdom for an integrated anti-aircraft warfare system. The prime contractor is EUROPAAMS, a joint venture between Eurosam (66%) and ...

missile system comprising: *** Eurosam PAAMS(E) *** UKAMS PAAMS(S) **Spada

Locations

*France: **

(headquarters) **

Bourges Bourges () is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre. It is the capital of the department of Cher, and also was the capital city of the former province of Berry. History The name of the commune derives either from the Bituriges, ...

** Selles-Saint-Denis *Germany: **

Schrobenhausen Schrobenhausen (; Central Bavarian: ''Schrobenhausn'') is a town in the district of Neuburg-Schrobenhausen in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the River Paar approx. south-west of Ingolstadt and north-east of Augsburg. The town hosts notabl ...

** Ulm **

Aschau am Inn Aschau is a municipality in the district of Mühldorf in Bavaria in Germany with about 3400 inhabitants (2020). Notable people * Johannes Muschol (1949–1981); a member of the GDR border troops shot the German citizen as he jumped over t ...

*Italy: **

La Spezia La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second largest ci ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Fusaro Lake Fusaro ( it, Lago di Fusaro, la, Acherusia Palus, grc, Ἀχερουσία λίμνη, Acherousia limne) is a lake situated in the province of Naples, Italy, in the territory of the community of Bacoli. It is about from Baia, and about ...

*United Kingdom: **

Filton Filton is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England, north of Bristol. Along with nearby Patchway and Bradley Stoke, Filton forms part of the Bristol urban area and has become an overflow settlement for the city. Filton Church d ...

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city i ...

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ce ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tamesid ...

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Ste ...

, Hertfordshire **

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Greater London Greater may refer to: * Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality * ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film * Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record * "Greater" (song), by MercyMe, 2014 * Greater Bank, an Austra ...

*United States: **

Westlake Village, California Westlake Village is a city in Los Angeles County on its western border with Ventura County. The City of Westlake Village incorporated in 1981 becoming the 82nd municipality of Los Angeles County.Baker, Pam (2002). ''Thousand Oaks Westlake Vil ...

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

*India: ** Coimbatore- L&T MBDA Missile Systems (A joint venture between

Larsen & Toubro Larsen & Toubro Ltd, commonly known as L&T, is an Indian multinational conglomerate company, with business interests in engineering, construction, manufacturing, technology, information technology and financial services, headquartered in Mumb ...

and MBDA).

References

External links

MBDA website

MBDA Presents Multiple Solutions For Modern Combat Missions : Meteor, Marte, MMP, Exocet on airrecognition.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mbda Aerospace companies Aerospace companies of France Aerospace companies of Germany Aerospace companies of Italy Aerospace companies of the United Kingdom Defence companies of France Defence companies of Germany Defence companies of Italy Defence companies of the United Kingdom Guided missile manufacturers BAE Systems joint ventures Leonardo S.p.A. Manufacturing companies established in 2001 Multinational joint-venture companies Aerospace companies of Spain Defence companies of Spain