MBDA says Stratus RS range will significantly exceed 200 km — Defense News
MBDA said at the Euronaval exhibition in Paris, France, that the range of its prospective high-supersonic strike missile Stratus RS will be “significantly, significantly, significantly” greater than the more than 200 km range of the Exocet anti-ship missile. Defense News reports.
Four types of missions
Stratus RS, whose name means rapid strike, is being developed for France and the United Kingdom. MBDA expects a development contract from France’s Directorate General of Armaments on behalf of both countries.
According to Olivier Hoffer, MBDA’s deputy director for sales and business development, the missile is planned for strikes against targets deep inside territory, engaging ships, suppressing and destroying air defense systems, and attacks on large aircraft, including airborne early warning aircraft and tanker aircraft.
The missile will be able to use very low or very high trajectories to engage difficult targets such as frigates, destroyers, and ground-based air defense systems. It is planned to be equipped with a liquid-fueled ramjet engine with adjustable thrust and to have high maneuverability.
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Testing plans and platforms
Separately, Hoffer said that Stratus RF will have a radio-frequency seeker combined with a synthetic-aperture radar. According to MBDA, Thales supplies the seeker technology. The company also said it had conducted numerous tests of critical Stratus RF components, including the engine, seeker, warhead, and data-processing system.
MBDA is also developing the subsonic low-observable Stratus LO cruise missile with a larger warhead for France, the United Kingdom, and Italy. Both missiles are planned to be adapted for launch from Rafale aircraft, Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, and future aircraft under the Global Combat Air Platform program, as well as from ships and ground launchers using a launch booster.
MBDA expects to begin flight tests of both missiles before the end of the decade and to put them into service in the early 2030s.
