MBDA-led Tele-Operated Munition Larinae project selected by French AID Agency of Innovation in Defense.

French AID (Agence de l’Innovaton de Défense) announced the selection of the consortium led by MBDA for the Larinae call for projects. Larinae aims to develop, quickly and jointly, a Tele-Operated Munition (MTO, Munition Télé-Opérée), or loitering munition, capable of neutralizing a hardened target within a radius of 50 kilometers. It could operate in swarms.
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The Mutant loitering munition benefits from technologies developed over many years by MBDA, in particular through the Akeron missile  family (Picture source: MBDA)

After the success of the first Colibri call for projects, MBDA confirms its position in the field of Remotely Operated Ammunition with the selection of its Mutant concept, proposed in a “Minimum Viable Product” approach, and oriented toward user needs. It once again confirms the choice made by MBDA of an agile approach, making it possible to meet the needs of a rapid and innovative sovereign solution, for the benefit of the forces.

This new powered and guided munition benefits from technologies developed over many years by MBDA, in particular through the Akeron family, in order to guarantee a very high level of performance for the neutralization of armored and mobile targets, while guaranteeing mission reliability and complete security.

In order to produce ammunition that meets the best cost/performance compromise, Mutant also takes advantage of the latest technological advances in the field of civil and military drones.

This solution, designed as a real weapons system with permanent man-in-the-loop maintenance, will offer complementary capabilities to land combat missiles in terms of speed on target, maneuverability, endurance, range and enemy saturation capability. This teleoperated munition, and its striking capabilities beyond direct sight, therefore fits naturally into MBDA's portfolio of battlefield effectors like the Akeron MP and LP.

The consortium follows Ministerial Instruction 1618 which makes it possible to define, with the staffs of the forces and the DGA, the best compromise between need and solution, thus providing a rapid and effective response to the needs of the armies.

The ambitious demonstrations planned under the Larinae contract in 2024 will benefit from work self-financed by MBDA since 2022 and having already enabled the first flights of the MTO Mutant with the SME Delair. These advances, which have already been made, thus make it possible to progress and adapt together even more quickly to the requirements of this new capacity.

The Defense Innovation Agency (AID) was created on September 1, 2018 at the instigation of the Minister for the Armed Forces, Florence Parly. The agency's objective is to coordinate defense innovation and unite stakeholders. In 2019, it managed a budget of €750 million. In 2022, it managed an increasing budget that reached €1 billion.

Defense News July 2023