MBDA presented for the first time its vision of the capabilities that will lie at the heart of the next generation of European air combat systems.As threats evolve and access denial strategies become ever more complex, with diversified effects combining surface-to-air and air-to-air assets in large scale, air superiority will need to be created on a local and temporary basis. Aircraft and air effectors will need to be able to enter denied areas, see threats before being seen, force hidden threats to uncover early enough to suppress them and to always react quicker than the adversary.
In these ever faster operations, networked effectors will take an essential part in the combat ‘cloud’, exchanging tactical information and target co-ordinates in real-time with platforms and other network nodes, in order to carry out the desired operational effects. These will also have to deploy robust survivability strategies in front of highly evolving threats. The fight will not only take place between platforms but between enemy networks, and only the most agile and adaptable will win. The engagement of these networked effectors will rely on resilience to any form of aggression (eg: Electronic Warfare, Cyber) as well as on rapid decision aids able to compute complex situations.
These concepts cover the whole field of key domains:
Deep Strike: with cruise missiles using the most advanced options in order to penetrate and open breaches in the most efficient A2AD (Anti Access Area Denial) deployments in the future, for the benefit of friendly forces.
Tactical Strike: with stand-off, networked and compact armaments, delivering precision effects but also able to saturate enemy defences thanks to pack or swarm behaviours.
Air-to-Air Combat: with Meteor which today has no equivalent and will keep its lead and remain a powerful asset for next-generation fighter aircraft.
Self-Protection: with the ‘Hard Kill’ anti-missile system that will counter incoming missiles and so provide essential protection during ‘stand-in’ combat, when soft-kill counter-measures and decoys are no longer sufficient. Such a system is able to reverse the balance of power against saturating defences.
Enablers: for the penetration of adversary defences thanks to the ‘Remote Carriers’ that deliver multiple effects, whether lethal or non-lethal, as well as new services for munitions such as intelligence, targeting, and deception of enemy sensors.
MBDA Remote Carriers are compact, stealthy, co-operate with other armaments and platforms, and can be launched from combat or transport aircraft, or surface ships. They work as capability extenders for the platforms and the armaments that they accompany.
“As it masters these essential technologies as well as all steps in the OODA (Observation, Orientation, Decision, Action) loop, from detection and localisation to damage assessment, MBDA positions itself as the architect of this decision-action chain, which will experience significant breakthroughs in concept and doctrine”, state company officials.
