Morocco buys MBDA VL Mica short-range air defense missile systems from France.

According to the French Newspaper website "La Tribune", Morocco bought the French-made short-range air defense missile system VL Mica designed and produced by the company MBDA. Some few days ago, Army Recognition announced that Morocco has purchased missile systems without information about the type of missile.
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Mobile missile launcher unit of French-made MBDA VL Mica short-range air defense missile system. (Picture source Army Recognition)

In 2019, the company MBDA would have signed a contract of €200 million with Morocco for the sale of VL Mica air defense missile systems and according to a document published recently on Morocco Government official website, it was announced that the country secured a $209 million loan from BNP Paribas that will be used to purchase weapon systems manufactured by MBDA.

The VL (Vertical Launch) MICA is short-range air defense missile system using launcher canister containers mounted on a military truck chassis. It uses a fire-and-forget missile which is fitted with either a passive IIR or an active RF seeker.

The missile is launched vertically using thrust vector control. The flight is controlled by the programmable strap down inertial mid course guidance system and then by the terminal homing seeker. It has a maximum target range of 10,000 m and 9,000 m altitude. The launch rate between firings is two seconds.

A VL Mica unit consists of mobile launch units based on 6x6 truck chassis, each carrying 4 – 6 launchers and a tactical operation center which also links via fiber-optic line to the remote controlled radar, and via VHF radio link, to the firing units. This structure makes it easy to deploy, easy to integrate within a wider global air defense structure and gives the system a high level of survivability. A VL MICA unit can ensure seamless area protection versus a wide variety of targets, including fast maneuvering combat jets and cruise missiles.