France, Italy and the United Kingdom confirm the order for 218 additional Aster missiles and the acceleration of the delivery of missiles already ordered, as part of a joint acquisition.
DGA press release
The contract was signed by the Organisation Conjoint de Coopération en matière d’Armement (OCCAr), on behalf of DGA for France, Segretariato Generale della Difesa for Italy and Defence Equipment & Support for the UK, for the benefit of their respective armed forces.
With this new contract, OCCAr is strengthening the European missile industry with the support of MBDA and major European players such as Thales, Avio and KNDS Ammo. The contract covers the production of new Aster 30 B1s (for the SAMP/T NG for France and Italy, as well as the naval defence systems of the three nations) and Aster 15s (for the French Navy).
It aims to accelerate production of the Aster missiles ordered in December 2022, with 134 additional missiles delivered between 2025 and 2026. Initiated in 2024, this increase in production rates is the result of adaptations made by MBDA and its subcontractors to meet the challenges of the defence effort.
It also reflects the strong commitment of France, Italy and the United Kingdom to strengthening their air defence capabilities. It also reflects the importance that the signatory states attach to this cooperation. It marks the culmination of negotiations led by the OCCAr with a view to accelerating the production of missiles by EUROSAM and MBDA, as European industrial benchmarks.
The Aster 30 and Aster 15 missiles are two-stage missiles with a common terminal delivery system and accelerators. The Aster 30 missile is capable of engaging conventional and conventional ballistic targets. The Aster 15 missile is designed to counter saturating attacks from manoeuvring missiles, fighter aircraft and slower aircraft such as maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft.
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Eurosam press release
FSAF-PAAMS: Increase and acceleration of Aster missiles production for France, Italy and the UK within the Next Generation of Surface-to-Air Anti-Missile Systems
OCCAR-EA1 Director Joachim Sucker, on behalf of France, Italy and the UK, and eurosam Managing Director Anne Diaz De Tuesta signed the 15th Amendment for the FSAF-PAAMS2 Sustainment & Enhancement (S&E) Contract.
This new contract amendment covers the production of a new batch of Aster 30 B1 ground and naval missiles, and Aster 15 naval missiles. It focuses on the improvement of the European production capabilities for the Aster missiles in order to accelerate and increase the production for the Ground and Naval Air Defence systems employed by the three nations’ forces (French Air Force, Italian Air Force and Army, French, Italian and UK Navies). Thanks to this contractual change, eurosam and MBDA will enable OCCAR-EA to deliver the variants of the Aster family (Aster 15 & Aster 30) to the nations, within a shorter timeframe.
OCCAR-EA and eurosam are proud to have placed this new contract amendment having worked closely with the national entities in charge of defence equipment procurement (Italian SGD3, French DGA4 and UK DE&S5)
This amendment is a further catalyst that promotes and reinforces the existing cooperation amongst the three nations supported by OCCAR-EA.
OCCAR-EA, eurosam, MBDA and Thales will therefore continue to lead the way to provide upgraded Air-Defence systems6 to face increasingly more challenging threats for the benefit of the French and Italian Air Forces, Italian Army and the three Navies.
1OCCAR –EA: Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation – Executive Administration
2FSAF: Surface to air anti-missile system family – PAAMS: Principal Anti Air Missile Systems
3Segretariato Generale della Difesa
4Direction générale de l’armament
5Defence Equipment and Support
6OCCAR-EA is also in charge of the procurement of the New Generation of the FSAF-PAAMS ground and naval systems, like the SAMP/T NG and PAAMS NG
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Naval News comment
Following the war in Ukraine and crisis in the Red Sea, the Aster missile has been a primary focus among end-users who whish to replenish their stockpiles and reinforce their surface-to-air capability. Indeed, Asters were fired several time by the three navies to neutralize air-threat like UAVs and ballistic missiles. Also, production rate for such complex missile was quite important and needed to be reduced. In this context, in January 2023, France and Italy announced to have jointly placed an order for almost 700 Asters of different versions for their respective forces.
For the last contract, the order concerned especially the procurement of the new version of ASTER 30 B1 NT. On October 2024, France carried out the first qualification firing of the new-generation Franco-Italian ASTER B1 NT system at the DGA missile test which will provide the Italian Navy and French Navy with anti-ballistic and anti-hypersonic missiles capabilities.This version will be fitted aboard the Horizon type air defense destroyers of the Italian Navy (from 2027) and the French Navy (from 2030) following their mid-life update.
To date, the MBDA ASTER family of missiles has over 250 successful firing, including 100+ operational firings in Ukraine and in the Red Sea. In the Red Sea theatre, the French Navy alone has fired over 20 ASTER missiles, according to Admiral Defougère, head of Marine Nationale’s planning and programs.
