Italy, France and the United Kingdom signed a letter of intent last week during the Paris Air Show. With this agreement, the Franco-British Future Cruise and Anti-Ship Weapon (FC/ASW) program will be opened up to the Italian partner.
According to a press release from the French Ministry of the Armed Forces, the dialogue phase that will now take place between the three countries will lay the foundations for the development phase that will follow. “The goal for each of the three countries is to have an operational deep attack capability by 2030. This new phase of the FC/ASW program will reinforce the European defense industrial and technological base around MBDA, the European leader in the field of missiles,» – It reads in the press release.
Future cruise and anti-ship weapon
The objective of the FC/ASW program is to replace, as of 2028, the capabilities currently in service with the Royal Navy, the Royal Air Force (RAF), the Marine Nationale (French Navy) and the Armée de l’air et de l’espace (French Air Force) for anti-ship and deep strike missions.
The conception phase, which amounts to about 100 million euros, is financed in equal parts by France and the United Kingdom; the workload is also split equally between MBDA France and MBDA UK.
FC/ASW schedule
2017: Launch of conceptual studies
2022: Launch of the evaluation phase, which focuses on increasing the maturity of the two selected concepts (stealth and subsonic or supersonic)
2023: Italy joins the program
2024: Launch of the program
2028: Expected date of entry into service of the anti-ship variant
2030: Expected date of entry into service of the ground attack variant
Arguments in favor of Italy joining FC/ASW
Italy’s joining the FC/ASW program makes sense and should not come as a surprise: The Italian Air Force will have to replace its in-service Storm Shadow land-attack cruise missiles in the future (which currently, as for France and the United Kingdom, are in a mid-life upgrade program), while the Head of the Italian Military Navy (Marina Militare) in 2020, Vice Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone (now Admiral and Chief of Defense Staff since October 2021) highlighted the need for a credible deep strike capability for the future destroyer project (the 10,000+ tonne DDX class) as well as future submarines (Type 212NFS).
Italy could bring some know-how and technology to French and British partners: As part of the Teseo Mk2/E program, MBDA Italy is currently developing a highly advanced dual-mode homing head section that will feature both a radio frequency (RF) seeker next-generation coherent with ECCM capability as with an electro-optical (EO) sensor. According to Italian journalist Luca Peruzzi, the radio frequency seeker, jointly developed by MBDA and Leonardo, will use AESA (active electronically scanned array) technology provided by the latter company. During the Seafuture 2023 conference and exhibition, MBDA and the Italian Navy provided an update on the Teseo Mk2/E program,
About FC/ASW
Following the 2010 Lancaster House agreement, France and the United Kingdom launched a joint program in 2017 with the aim of replacing their cruise and anti-ship missiles by 2030.
Named FC/ASW for Future Cruise/Anti-Ship Weapon (or FMAN/FMC for futur missile anti-navire/futur missile de croisière in French), the program is led by European missile leader MBDA. The FC/ASW is intended to replace the air-launched Scalp/Storm Shadow, as well as the Exocet and Harpoon air-launched and ship-launched anti-ship missiles currently in service with the French and British armed and air forces.
The FC/ASW aims to develop a new generation of deep-attack and anti-ship missiles by 2030. Its goal is to replace the capabilities provided by the Storm Shadow/SCALP air-launched cruise missile in operational service in the UK and France, as well such as the Exocet anti-ship missile in France and the Harpoon anti-ship missile in the UK.
MBDA announced the successful completion of the “key review” phase of the FC/ASW (Future Cruise/Anti-Ship Weapon), carried out jointly with the UK Defense Equipment and Support (DE&S) and the Defense Procurement Agency (DGA). in 2019. In a Written Parliamentary Question, Jeremy Quin, UK Secretary of State for the Ministry of Defence, revealed that FC/ASW will equip both the Royal Navy and the French National Navy (Marine Nationale) from 2028.
Meanwhile, the UK selected the Kongsberg naval strike missile as an interim solution in November 2022. Eleven Type 23 frigates and Type 45 destroyers will be equipped with the naval strike missile, capable of shooting down large enemy warships at more than 100 miles away. The Naval Strike Missile will bridge the gap between the Harpoon and the arrival of its permanent successor, the FC/ASW.
Xavier Vavaseur
The post Italy joins France and the UK in the FC/ASW programme. appeared first on MilitaryView.