French Military aviation update and discussion
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In just eight months, the DGA and the French Air Force achieved the feat of integrating a new capability onto the Rafale: the laser-guided rocket (LADAC—*Lutte Anti-Drone sur Avion de Combat*, or Counter-UAS for Combat Aircraft)!
Faced with the proliferation of low-cost suicide drones like the Shahed-136/Geran-2, shooting down $50,000 targets with €1 million MICA missiles was no longer sustainable. In this video, I take you behind the scenes at the DGA, sharing exclusive information and footage obtained from program officials.
Why was the French 68mm rocket chosen? How are the flight tests with the Talios pod proceeding? Why does the French strategy differ from Ukraine's?
English subtitles available
Faced with the proliferation of low-cost suicide drones like the Shahed-136/Geran-2, shooting down $50,000 targets with €1 million MICA missiles was no longer sustainable. In this video, I take you behind the scenes at the DGA, sharing exclusive information and footage obtained from program officials.
Why was the French 68mm rocket chosen? How are the flight tests with the Talios pod proceeding? Why does the French strategy differ from Ukraine's?
English subtitles available
When you are told #221 that the inventory of Mica missiles stood at 1,000, which word didn't you understand?
haters got to hate
DGA takes delivery of the 1,000th Mica air-to-air missile
On October 25, 2010, the French Defense Procurement Agency (DGA) accepted the 1,000th Mica (Interception, Combat, and Self-Defense Missile), the air-to-air missile that equips the Rafale aircraft.
Produced by MBDA, the Mica was ordered by the DGA in a batch of 1,110 units. French forces will have the full inventory of these Mica missiles at their disposal by 2012.
The Mica is an air-to-air missile capable of both short-range self-defense combat and beyond-visual-range interception. Consequently, it enables the execution of missions previously assigned to two separate missiles. A modularly designed missile, the Mica comes in two versions depending on the installed seeker: electromagnetic (EM) for all-weather self-defense or infrared (IR) for stealthy interception. Highly maneuverable, the Mica can be fired at targets located behind the launch aircraft, thanks to target designation data transmitted via Link 16 from another aircraft. The IR version also functions as an infrared surveillance sensor, notably allowing the carrier aircraft to detect incoming infrared-guided missile attacks. Additionally, the Mica features an internal multi-target capability that allows the pilot to engage a group of closely spaced targets. The Mica missile arms the Air Force's Mirage 2000-5s and the Rafales operated by both the Air Force and the Navy. The 1,110 Mica missiles ordered are split roughly equally between the Mica EM and Mica IR variants. The thousandth Mica missile recently accepted by the DGA is a Mica IR destined for the Air Force.
The Mica is assembled at the MBDA industrial site in Selles-Saint-Denis (Loir-et-Cher). Furthermore, over 1,000 Mica missiles have already been sold to foreign customers, either in the air-to-air version or as the VL-Mica (Vertical Launch Mica) surface-to-air variant, which is fired from vertical containers installed on land-based platforms or ships.
Furthermore, France has placed an order for 567 Mica-NG missiles.