Akeron MP MMP MBDA

Medium Range anti-tank guided Missile - Missile Moyenne Portée - France

The Akeron MP previously MMP (Missile Moyenne Portée – Medium-Range Missile) is a portable surface-to-surface launcher missile system developed by the Defense Company MBDA. The development of the MMP started in 2009 initiated by the Company MBDA and the mass production began in 2013. MBDA has won a contract from the French army to develop a medium-range missile that could defeat everything from tanks to bunkers to hostile troops in buildings. The MMP program was confirmed in France’s Defence and National Security White Paper and reaffirmed by the French Minister of Defence during his visit to MBDA’s Bourges facility on June 10, 2013. The MMP is a fifth-generation land combat missile system specially designed to be used by infantry units as an anti-tank weapon or to be integrated on wheeled or tracked combat vehicles offering more firepower against modern tanks or heavy armored vehicles. The MMP will replace the Milan wire-guided anti-tank missile launcher unit, the HOT missiles mounted on VAB Armoured Fighting Vehicles. In April 2014, MBDA has demonstrated the firing capabilities of its MMP missile in an operational configuration. The launch tests were carried out in a confined space in the presence of the operator, using his firing post, and the team leader. On 12th February 2015, another test firing of the MMP missile took place at the French Procurement Agency DGA Techniques Terrestres site in Bourges central France. This latest firing, against a steel target positioned at an intermediate range, was carried out in lock-on before launch mode (fire-and-forget) using the missile seeker's color TV channel. All aspects of the test, covering the launch, flight trajectory, and target impact, took place optimally and fully conformed to the simulations of MBDA's project teams. In December 2017, the French army has take delivery of 50 missiles and 20 firing posts from the new MMP system. The MMP program will see the delivery of 400 firing posts and 1,750 missiles across all of the French Armed Forces by 2025. The MMP missile will also be integrated into the Jaguar EBRC 6x6 armored vehicle that could enter into service with the French Army in 2020. From August 25 to September 22, 2018, in Djibouti, the French Army Technical Service (STAT), the French DGA (Direction Générale de l’Armement), with the support of MBDA, achieved the evaluation campaign of the MMP 5th generation land combat missile system. The objective of this operational evaluation was to check the suitability of the MMP weapon system for use in semi-desert conditions. In November 2018, Members of 15 foreign delegations, as well as representatives of the European Defence Agency (EDA) and of the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA), have been given the opportunity to witness the full range of capabilities of MBDA's 5th generation MMP (Missile Moyenne Portée) ground combat missile during a live firing demonstration. in November 2021, MBDA has announced the the delivery of the 1,000th MMP (Missile Moyenne Portée / medium-range missile) to the French Service Interarmées des Munitions (SIMu). According to the Loi de Programmation Militaire, the delivery of 1,950 missiles is planned by 2025. In July 2021, France and Sweden agreed to co-develop a new anti-tank missile based on MBDA’s Missile Moyenne Portée (Medium-Range Missile/MMP) missile.

MMP MBDA variants:

MLP variant: with extended range to 8 km.

Firing Post Unit

The Akeron MP or MMP man-portable surface-to-surface missile system is based on a digitalized firing post including a tripod and battery weighing 11 kg. It includes the latest generation Band 2 infrared (IR), a day camera, and a laser range finder. The optronic control unit is fitted with a high-definition twin-field infrared sensor offering advanced image processing, a daytime video channel, GPS receiver, and magnetic compass. The twin-field system gives the gunner images from both the cameras in the firing-post and the missile’s seeker. A laser rangefinder will be optional. Both the optronic units and the seekers are produced by Sagem’s Poitiers plant. The firing post can work in autonomous mode or connected to an external power source.

Close view of firing post unit of MBDA MMP man-portable anti-tank guided missile system

Missile

The Akeron MP or MMP is a digital missile with a passive dual-band seeker including an uncooled Infrared and color TV channel. It uses a multi-purpose tandem warhead. The MMP missile has a dual-mode seeker (uncooled infrared and visible color channels) and also a fiber-optic data link making it possible to maintain "man-in-the-loop" control. This capability gives it unmatched accuracy and minimizes the risk of collateral damage. The missile is fitted with selectable warhead mode to be used as an Anti-Tank missile for optimal armor penetration or with maximum blast effect against dismount personnel. It has a minimum firing range of 150m and a maximum of 4,000m. The warhead can penetrate 1,000 mm of rolled homogeneous armor (RHA), and 2,000mm of concrete. It can destroy targets as heavy tanks with reactive armor as well as infantry entrenched in infrastructure. The MMP missile has a weight of 15 kg including the firing tub, a diameter of 140 mm, and of 1.3 m in a tactical canister.

Missile of the MMP MBDA land combat missile system

Other Integration

The Akeron MP or MMP is also a candidate for integration into armored vehicles. The missile is slated to be paired with the unique CT40 turret on France’s future Jaguar EBRC wheeled light reconnaissance armored. In June 2014, at the Eurosatory defense exhibition in Paris, French Company MBDA showed MMP missile mounted on a model of Nexter’s CT40 40mm cannon turret for IFVs and mounted on MBDA’s MPCV wheeled patrol vehicle and missile carrier.

MBDA MMP launcher station mounted on PVP light protected vehicle

Combat use

The Akeron MP orMMP missile is network centric warfare (NCW)-compatible. The fire-and-forget mode of the missile will help to reduce the fire-control burden. Once fired, communication between the missile and the firing unit relies on a fiber optic wire, allowing the operator to intervene with a manual override that’s almost impossible to jam. The man controlling the loop and lock-on after launch (LOAL) modes improves the precision strike capability of the missile, which can even be fired from inside a building. The firing sequence of the MMP is rapidly repeatable. As a medium missile, it needs to kill targets up to an including main battle tanks, while remaining effective in urban warfare scenarios that focus on reinforced buildings. Urban effectiveness has also driven a design that’s designed to be fired from confined spaces without any risks for the operator. The MMP can be used by a team of three soldiers, but the firing post is operated by a single operator.

The MBDA Akeron MPMMP anti-tank guided missile weapon system can be operated by a team of three soldiers.