November 2012 marked the achievement of another key milestone in the history of the Aster family of missiles. Not only had all the naval- and ground-based air and missile defence capabilities been qualified – with the various supplied systems having also entered operational service with their respective domestic and export customers – but significantly, the integration and final assembly of the 1,000th Aster missile was also completed at MBDA’s Selles-Saint-Denis R&D and production facility in France.

Antoine Bouvier, CEO of MBDA, said: “I am very proud of the way that MBDA has met both the technology and the industrial challenges presented by such a complex programme that involves different system variants and the cooperation of three countries. We are now providing our domestic and export customers with a highly cost-effective operational capability that is second to none. Such an achievement is thanks to MBDA’s global and fully integrated business model as well as to the enlightened programme coordination provided by OCCAR. The continued support of the French and Italian governments has also been extremely influential in ensuring the success story that Aster has now clearly become”.

Aster missiles are produced in two variants, Aster 15 and Aster 30. Aster 15 is deployed in the SAAM naval self-defence system. The PAAMS naval air defence system, in service with the French and Italian navies, deploys a mix of Aster 15 and Aster 30 missiles to provide self, local and fleet area defence. PAAMS is also in service with the UK’s Royal Navy where it is known as the Sea Viper system. SAMP/T is the ground-based air defence system firing the Aster 30 missile that has been delivered to the Italian Army and to the French Armée de l’Air (where the system is known as Mamba).