Italy selects MBDA to produce TESEO MK2/E anti-ship missile for Navy FREMM frigates.

MBDA signed a production contract to supply the Italian Navy with the TESEO MK2/E (“Teseo EVO”) dual-role anti-ship/land-attack missile, moving the program from development to serial manufacture. It gives Italy long-range maritime strike and precision land-attack options amid rising Mediterranean threat densities.

MBDA has secured a production contract to deliver the TESEO MK2/E anti-ship missile, known as Teseo EVO, to the Italian Navy, marking the program’s transition from development to serial manufacture. The deal locks in the missile as the surface-warfare mainstay for Italy’s next-generation fleet, including FREMM EVO frigates, PPA/MPCS multipurpose combat ships, and the future DDX destroyers, while enabling mixed loadouts alongside legacy Teseo MK2/A rounds on existing units. Rome is recapitalizing its surface force as threat densities rise in the Mediterranean, and the Navy wanted a weapon that pairs long-range maritime strike with deep precision attack ashore. Teseo EVO delivers that dual role, adding a modern seeker suite, robust mid-course control, and refined terminal performance.
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The TESEO Mk2/E is a long-range (>350 km), dual-role sea-skimming strike missile featuring a dual-mode RF/EO terminal seeker, INS/GPS navigation with 4D waypointing, and a two-way datalink for in-flight retasking (Picture source: MBDA).

The MK2/E anti-ship missile is an evolution of the classic Otomat/Teseo family. The missile adopts a dual-mode terminal homing system that couples an advanced active RF seeker with an electro-optical sensor to sharpen discrimination in clutter, break through decoys, and refine aim-point selection against complex hull forms or coastal targets. Navigation blends INS/GPS with a radar altimeter for stable sea-skimming at high subsonic speed. A programmable mission computer supports four-dimensional waypointing, enabling dogleg approaches, terrain masking over littorals, and coordinated arrivals. A secure two-way datalink allows in-flight retasking, target update, and simultaneous time-on-target planning across a salvo.

Range pushes well beyond earlier Italian service weapons, opening engagement envelopes measured in several hundred kilometers while preserving low-altitude profiles. The architecture combines a deck-launch solid booster for canister egress with an efficient sustainer to keep the missile in its energy band over long legs. The airframe makes extensive use of lightweight composites to improve fuel fraction, while a refined control system supports aggressive terminal maneuvers designed to stress hard- and soft-kill layers alike. MBDA has emphasized a multi-effect warhead tailored for both naval and land targets, with fuzing optimized for shipboard penetration as well as controlled effects against infrastructure, giving commanders flexibility without changing rounds.

Integration into Italian combat systems is central to the program. On new hulls, MK2/E is the baseline strike option; on legacy FREMM and Horizon frigates, the Navy can field a blended magazine, pairing familiar MK2/A rounds for routine patrols with EVO rounds for contested environments. Fire-control software and combat-management upgrades knit the missile into the fleet’s sensor architecture so offboard tracks from maritime patrol aircraft, helicopters, and UAVs can cue shots beyond the ship’s organic radar horizon. The contract underwrites an industrial ramp inside Italy, sustaining a domestic complex-weapons design and manufacturing base that has become strategically important for European navies seeking sovereign control over their stockpiles.

Teseo EVO gives Italian surface groups a first-salvo capability able to shape the fight before an adversary’s aviation or submarine assets can close. Low-level ingress, route flexibility, and terminal agility are engineered to complicate modern layered defenses that blend long-range interceptors, point-defense missiles, CIWS, and soft-kill suites. The dual-mode seeker helps maintain track integrity against chaff, towed decoys, and deceptive emitters, while the EO channel reduces fratricide risk around neutral shipping and congested shores. With two-way datalink control, ships can stagger or compress salvos, assign axes of attack, and synchronize impacts to saturate defenses or deconflict effects in joint fires with air and land components.

The missile supports a broad mission set. In sea-control scenarios, MK2/E can hold adversary surface action groups at risk from outside their lethal envelope, buying time and space for the task force. In strike warfare, it offers a conventional option for disabling coastal radars, logistics nodes, or command sites when weather, airbase access, or tanker constraints limit aviation sortie generation. The missile’s all-weather performance and preplanned routing let commanders thread narrow straits and archipelagos while managing collateral risk profiles, an increasingly common demand in the Mediterranean’s busy sea lanes.

The Mediterranean has grown more competitive, with Russian deployments, shifting energy dynamics in the Eastern Med, and persistent volatility across North Africa. NATO navies are rearming after a decade of undersupply, and European governments are pressing for resilient supply chains and sovereign munitions. By fielding Teseo EVO at scale, Italy not only strengthens its own deterrent posture but also contributes a credible, indigenous strike capability to allied maritime operations. The program’s momentum positions the missile for export opportunities among partners seeking a non-U.S. solution that still fits with NATO standards and European combat-system architectures.