French
Procurement Agency (DGA) on July 9, 2012 successfully completed the
first full sequence test (from launch to target) of a SCALP Naval,
French Navy's future naval cruise missile.
This was the third development test firing of the missile, conducted
at the DGA site of Biscarrosse (South West France) where the "DGA
missile test center" is located. This test is representative of
a shot from a frigate. All objectives were met, including the validation
of the terminal phase with autonomous guidance by infrared scene recognition,
which provides highly accurate impacts. SCALP Naval cruise missiles
will be deployed onboard multi-mission frigates (FREMM) in 2014 and
Barracuda SSN submarines in 2017. |
With
a range of several hundred kilometers, SCALP Naval is intended to strike
targets in the depth of enemy territory. It is complementary to the
Airborne Scalp cruise missile form which it is derived. Deployed on
warships positioned off enemy coasts in international waters, ostensibly
(frigates) or discretely (submarines), SCALP Naval is the perfect weapon
when the mission involves destruction of high strategic value targets. |
