MBDA Validates Mistral 3 as First Combat-Proven VSHORAD System for Drone and Maritime Threats.

The European group MBDA has reached a new milestone in the development of its very short-range air defense capabilities with the full qualification of the enhanced version of the Mistral 3 missile. On June 17, 2025, the missile completed a qualification test in Spain, confirming its ability to intercept and neutralize fast-moving craft such as FIACs (Fast Inshore Attack Craft), including during night operations. This test concludes a development phase that began in July 2024, when Mistral 3 demonstrated its capacity to shoot down drones with low infrared signatures, such as Shahed-type models. This success against thermally discreet targets reflects the system’s adaptation to current threats, where early detection and rapid engagement have become operational requirements.
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link

The missile is deployed within the SIMBAD-RC system, which has itself been upgraded to address multiple attack scenarios. (Picture source: MBDA)

In its upgraded configuration, Mistral 3 incorporates several technological improvements. Its flight control system has been optimized, guidance enhanced, and image processing significantly improved, allowing it to address a wider range of threats. In addition to FIACs, it is now capable of engaging unmanned surface vessels (USVs) and other small naval targets, which are increasingly central to asymmetric or saturation attack strategies. MBDA states that Mistral 3 is currently the only very short-range air defense missile to have demonstrated operational effectiveness against these combined threats, both by day and by night.

The missile is deployed within the SIMBAD-RC system, which has itself been upgraded to address multiple attack scenarios. The joint evolution of the missile and its launcher strengthens the autonomous protection of naval platforms by expanding their ability to counter hybrid threats, combining conventional aerial attacks and fast surface vectors.

Additionally, during the July 2024 trials, Mistral 3 successfully intercepted a Shahed-type drone, confirming the improved performance of its anti-drone mode. This capability reinforces the missile’s role within MBDA’s SKY WARDEN system, a modular and adaptable solution designed to counter the proliferation of unmanned aerial systems, with Mistral 3 serving as its first line of interception.

Following this series of successful tests, MBDA confirms the full qualification of the missile in a configuration aligned with evolving operational environments. The upgraded system is now positioned to address a broader spectrum of aerial and maritime threats while meeting requirements for technological sovereignty and tactical flexibility. In the context of rapidly changing conflict dynamics, this evolution makes Mistral 3 a system adapted to the current needs of modern armed forces.