Codename test “Operation Mercury” was carried out in Biscarrosse, near Bordeaux on the Bay of Biscay.
According to the missile's designer, European manufacturer MBDA, new version of the Aster 30 B1NT rocketwhich is scheduled to enter service in 2026, will be able to hit targets flying at an altitude of 25,000. meters from a distance of 150 kilometers. In addition to aircraft, it will be able to intercept medium-range ballistic missiles, such as those launched last week by Iran against Israelow, as well as hypersonic missiles flying at a hypersonic speed of Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound), or approximately 6,000 km/h.
Currently, the French army has shot down two targets flying at a speed of almost 900 km/h, at an altitude of 6,000 meters, about 20 kilometers from the coast, using the new Aster missile.
France: Successful test of a new weapon. “Absolutely crucial”
– Five, four, three, two, one, fire – said the French test coordinator. A gunshot immediately rang out, and soon afterwards, to the applause of Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu and several members of parliament, the same voice announced that “the target had been hit,” AFP reports.
– This was the first test of an absolutely crucial program. Great success in distinguishing targets, he praised the Lecornu operation. Equipped with a new module, something like a small radar, the rocket was able to distinguish an aircraft marked as friendly from another, hostile one.
AFP notes that France commits more and more resources to strengthening ground-based air defense, a sector that has been neglected since the end of the Cold War. By 2030, Paris intends to allocate for this purpose 5 billion euros and has already ordered eight next-generation SAMP/T systems with Aster missiles equipped with a new radar and a new fire control system. The country needs to order four more in the coming years.
Italywith which France has been cooperating since the launch of the program in 2021, must equip themselves with 10 such systems. Aster 30 B1NT missiles will also be equipped with French and Italian frigates, as well as with the countries purchasing these ships and some British units.
“France must be ready.” The minister indicates the threat
– Iranian attacks on Israel clearly show what long-range ballistic threats await us. France must be ready, said the French minister.
Although system SAMP/Tapart from the donated battery Ukrainehas not found a foreign buyer so far, Lecornu is counting on success. Many European countries have chosen the American sky to defend their skies system Patriot.
The joint program of Paris and Rome is an alternative to the initiative Germanwhich was joined by about twenty countries. The project is based on German anti-aircraft systems Iris-TAmerican Patriots medium range and American-Israeli Arrow-3 long range.
However, the French minister hopes that thanks to the Aster missile they will make a “sufficient technological leap to enable parts of Europe purchase of a French-Italian missile and finding a completely European solution“.
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