European missile systems company MBDA and Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) have signed an agreement to strengthen cooperation between the two companies.
The agreement was signed on Monday 20th November by Chris Allam, Managing Director of MBDA UK, and Kang Goo-young, CEO of KAI, in London during a Korean State visit to the UK.
It will see the companies explore new opportunities for the integration of MBDA weapons onto KAI platforms and the export of both together via a joint marketing approach.
“The combination of MBDA’s world leading weapon products and technologies with KAI’s proven record of new aircraft development and rapid delivery is an exciting prospect for the world defence market, reflecting the shared values and interests of both parties,” said Eric Béranger, CEO of MBDA.
MBDA is already working with KAI to complete successfully the integration of MBDA’s Meteor beyond visual range air-to-air missile on the KAI-led KF-21 Boromae fighter aircraft.
Examples of cooperation areas to be explored under the new agreement include integration of new MBDA weapons such as SPEAR, ASRAAM, and Brimstone onto KAI platforms such as KF-21 and FA-50, and the export of the above platforms and missiles.
“Recently, there has been growing global demand for various armaments," said Kang Goo-young, CEO of KAI
"We will work with MBDA to propose enhanced domestic fighter aircraft to our customers.”