The NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency (NAMSA) awarded MBDA the contract for the destruction of 36,000 complex munitions. Under this contract MBDA, undertakes to establish within two years and within national territory a facility to process classified munitions in accordance with the very strict regulations that apply to defence safety; namely operational reliability and respect for the environment.

MBDA will be responsible for the disposal before 2017 of more than 1,000 missiles, 22,000 M26 rockets (the rockets formerly deployed in multi launch rocket systems or MLRSs), each containing 644 submunitions, and 13,000 155mm grenade shells, each containing 63 submunitions – hence more than 15 million submunitions.

The munition processing plant will be installed at MBDA’s Bourges Subdray site in central France. This activity represents an investment of around €12 million. In order to win the contract and establish a high added value facility in France, MBDA has brought together the best skills available on the market - with Esplodenti Sabino and AID in Italy, and NAMMO in Norway.