MBDA continues to work towards a greater slice of South Korean defence spending, even as the missile manufacturer is currently working closely with Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) to integrate the Meteor Beyond-Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM) on KF-X.
“We are working closely with both KAI and other Korean industry partners to achieve this, and have a number of offset projects in place with Korean industry for Meteor integration on KF-X. Meteor clearly will significantly enhance the combat lethality of KF-X compared to other aircraft in the region armed with only conventional rocket-powered missiles. We are also interested in future options to enhance the combat effectiveness of KF-X, including with ASRAAM or our strike weapons offerings including SPEAR, SPEAR-EW or SmartGlider,” company officials Daily News.
Meteor is also being integrated onto F-35, and MBDA’s high-performance ASRAAM within-visual range air-to-air missile is already in operational service on F-35.
“We are also looking to co-operate on F/A-50 where our Brimstone precision strike missile and ASRAAM close combat missile are very relevant, while there are also opportunities for joint development of further air weapon solutions,” the official informs. MBDA’s Brimstone is also suitable also for integration onto the MAH and LAH helicopters. The Brimstone precision strike missile is well-proven for use from helicopters and known for being the most operational effective missile of its class, with an unrivalled ability to defeat both the heaviest of armour and the most challenging, fast, and mobile targets.
“For both MAH and LAH we are also looking to integrate our Mistral ATAM system, which takes the high-performance capabilities of the Mistral missile already in service with the RoK Armed Forces and adds them to helicopters to provide a highly potent and combat-proven air-to-air capability,” the official says.
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