Australia could become the first country outside France to produce the Mistral, one of the world’s most advanced air defence missile systems.
Australian defence company Nioa and European missile company MBDA have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Mistral missile solutions.
That agreement allows exploration of options for assembly or production of Australian-made warheads for the Mistral suite of missiles and becoming part of the global supply chain.
Nioa Group Chief Executive Officer Robert Nioa said this agreement supported the Australian Government’s Defence Industry Development Strategy for closer industrial collaboration with trusted international partners.
“MBDA are world leaders in the missile industry. With the Australian Government’s focus on domestic manufacturing of a wider range of munitions and the expansion of partnerships with industry, the timing is right for Nioa and MBDA to take this first and significant step,” he said.
“Co-design, co-development, co-production and co-sustainment of capabilities such as Mistral missiles will make effective use of combined resources, strengthening collective defence industrial capacity, enhancing interoperability and accelerating technology development.”
The French-made Mistral is a Very Short-Range Air Defence (VSHORAD) missile, featuring infra-red guidance, high manoeuvrability and supersonic speed. Different variants can be should, vehicle, helicopter, ships and even submarine launched.
It can be used against aircraft, helicopters, drones, cruise missiles, missile-capable navy gunboats and loitering munitions. Mistral is in service with France and dozens of other nations, although not Australia.
The latest Mistral 3 has been supplied to Ukraine, with a very high success rate. MBDA recently delivered its 2,000th missile.
Pierre-Marie Belleau, Business Development Executive at MBDA, said he was pleased to enter this agreement with Nioa, as both companies had complementary experiences in delivering world-leading products to their customers.
“Mistral is a class leading VSHORAD capability, ideally suited as an effector in a multi-layered and integrated air defence,” he said.
“Nioa is playing a key role in delivering munitions for the Australian Defence Force. Together we can provide the solutions to counter the evolving drone threat armed forces now face and deliver the best VSHORAD capability available on the market.”