European and American powers join forces to integrate the best-selling Aster 30 anti-aircraft missile with the Mk41 vertical launch system

The British Ministry of Defense has awarded the European missile manufacturer MBDA a contract worth 1.86 million pounds to integrate the "Aster 30" anti-aircraft missile into the American Lockheed Martin Mk 41 vertical launch system. (Taken from Italian Navy Facebook)

[Reporter Tu Jumin/Comprehensive Report] The cooperation of European and American military technologies is expected to make warship weapon configurations more flexible. Foreign military websites reported that the British Ministry of Defense has awarded the European missile manufacturer MBDA a contract worth 1.86 million pounds to study the integration of Europe's "Aster 30" (also translated as Aster 30) anti-aircraft missile into the American Lockheed Martin's Mk 41 vertical launch system. If the technical limitations are successfully overcome, European and American warships will have more anti-aircraft missile options in the future, which will help improve the commonality of weapons among NATO allies.

"Naval News" reported that the contract will last for 10 months and is expected to be completed by the end of August 2027. The British Ministry of Defense stated that the research results will serve as a reference for future combat power development and combat application decisions, and will reduce the restriction that different missiles must be equipped with dedicated launch systems. Because MBDA masters the core technology of the Aster missile and has the contract rights to use the technical data of the Lockheed Martin Mk 41 vertical launch system, it was directly awarded the contract.

Developed by Europe's MBDA, the Aster 30 has a range of more than 120 kilometers, a missile length of 4.9 meters, a bomb weight of 450 kilograms, a maximum flight speed of Mach 4.5, and an interception altitude of up to 20 kilometers. This missile uses a two-section solid fuel propulsion design, combined with inertial guidance and active radar homing technology, to intercept enemy fighters, cruise missiles and some ballistic missiles. It also uses unique lateral thrust control technology to improve the maneuverability and accuracy of terminal interception.

Aster 30 is currently the main weapon of the air defense system of the Royal Navy's Type 45 destroyer "Sea Viper" and is used with the 48-unit SYLVER A50 vertical launch system. However, the Aster 30 and the shorter-range Aster 15 currently only have SYLVER system launch certification and cannot be directly used in the Mk 41 vertical launch system that is widely deployed on warships of the United States and NATO allies.

It is worth noting that the British Royal Navy is promoting the adoption of the Mk 41 system on future surface ships, including eight Type 26 frigates, all equipped with 24-unit Mk 41 vertical launch systems, and five Type 31 frigates are also planned to be installed. Among them, the Type 26 originally used the "Sea Ceptor" system and CAMM anti-aircraft missiles to perform air defense missions. If the Aster 30 and the Mk 41 vertical launch system are successfully integrated in the future, it can theoretically add various long-range area air defense weapon options to various warships.

In fact, when Britain, France and Italy were developing a common air defense system in the 1990s, they considered integrating the Aster missile and the Mk 41 vertical launch system, and finally chose SYLVER. Nowadays, as the new generation of British warships gradually adopts American-made launch systems, and MBDA's newly developed "Stratus" cruise and anti-ship missiles are planned to be compatible with Mk 41 and SYLVER, the cross-border integration of European and American missiles and launch systems is expected to become an important direction for the development of future naval weapons.