EU Greenlights MBDA’s MMP Missile: A New Era in Defense Technology

On 19 November, EU Defence ministers endorsed the EU BLOS (Beyond Line Of Sight) initiative as part of a collection of 17 defense projects aimed at execution within the framework of Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO). This initiative, proposed by France and supported by Belgium and Cyprus, represents the first missile system project to benefit from this groundbreaking cooperation framework.

By promoting a distinct operational capability for military operations, this initiative will further a unified and autonomous European strategy in the ground combat domain while improving the qualitative contributions of European nations toward achieving NATO’s strategic goals. The ground combat sector has been recognized since June 2018 as one of the 11 European capability focus areas.

The EU BLOS initiative aims to develop a range of BLOS missiles featuring advanced imaging and human-in-the-loop capabilities. Using the MMP missile system as a base, this product line will be entirely managed by European industry, ensuring full operational independence, secure supply chains, and future innovations benefiting the 25 PESCO member states. Establishing a European operational doctrine along with its associated operational concepts will be a primary objective of this initiative. It will also lay the foundation for creating a European user community that will promote the advancement potential of the MMP missile system regarding missile enhancements and its integration across a wide variety of ground and aerial platforms.

The EU BLOS initiative will also capitalize on the CAMO (Capacité Motorisée) bilateral strategic partnership between France and Belgium, enhancing operational and capability synergies among the armed forces of both countries.