A “major milestone towards the qualification of the missile and its integration into the Rafale”. The Ministry of the Armed Forces announced this Friday in a press release that “the Directorate General of Armaments (DGA) successfully carried out on June 1, the first firing of the Mica NG (new generation combat interception and self-defense missile) in configuration of supersonic flight of the Rafale.
Thanks to its onboard technologies, this new missile “will enable forces to face future threats and maintain operational superiority in contested airspaces.” The production chain within the MBDA industrial company is currently being set up and “will allow us to satisfy French and export needs in a context of preparing the industry for a high-intensity conflict”.
The missile uses infrared radiation from the target
This shot was carried out on the “Méditerranee” site of the DGA Missile Tests. This is the second development firing of the Mica NG from a Rafale, but the first carried out in supersonic flight, that is to say at a speed greater than that of sound (Mach 1), at which “the missile and its infrared seeker are subjected to a higher surrounding temperature.” high. »
The seeker is a system used by the missile to automatically correct its trajectory based on the information it receives. It uses infrared radiation emitted by the target. “The higher the surrounding temperature, the lower the contrast between the target of interest and the background of the image and the more the seeker will struggle to detect it,” explains the Ministry of the Armed Forces. This test made it possible to validate the capabilities of the seeker in these conditions.
Other shots to validate the capabilities of the Mica NG
New firings will take place in order to validate the full capabilities of the Mica NG, in its different versions and firing configurations, at different altitudes and flight speeds of the aircraft.
Since their entry into service in the 2000s, French Rafales have been equipped with Mica missiles, capable of carrying out short-range self-protection missions but also missions to intercept enemy fighters at longer ranges (around 80 km), in addition to those of the Meteor missile.
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Like the current Mica missile, the Mica NG, which is due to enter service by 2030, will be developed in two versions: infrared homing and electromagnetic. Finally, the Mica NG in its VL (Vertical Launch – vertical launch) version “will be integrated into the continuum of ground-air defense capabilities of the armies”.
