MBDA will provide the Italian Navy with the new Teseo Evolved Weapon System, namely Teseo Mk2/E. Teseo Mk2/E will efficiently engage both sea and land targets at very long range, with full mission control throughout the missile flight. The system will have an innovative integrated mission planning and a new RF seeker, with options for additional features and capabilities in the future. This new generation system builds on the legacy Teseo family, known worldwide as OTOMAT, and will bring a substantial improvement in anti-ship capabilities. Teseo Mk2/E is the answer to evolving threats that generate the need to evolve operational requirements.
Lorenzo Mariani, Executive Group Director Sales and Business Development and Managing Director MBDA Italia, declared: “The Teseo Mk2/E has been defined and designed thanks to an intense collaboration between the Italian Navy and MBDA. This new anti-ship missile will mark a step change in the OTOMAT/Teseo family, keep up with ever evolving threats and feature advanced functions to support the Italian Navy operations that will significantly increase the flexibility and operational value of the Italian Navy surface ships that will be equipped with it. This contract will also help sustain high level skills in a domain of excellence of the Italian defence industry and will contribute to guarantee the sustainability of our company and its suppliers, as well as its Italian employment levels in the years to come”.
Eric Béranger, CEO of MBDA, declared: “I want here to give a special thanks to Italian Navy, governmental and all MBDA teams who worked hard, also against all disruptions created by the pandemic, to bring this important contract to life. MBDA Group considers Teseo Mk2/E as a major programme and will be fully committed to the successful outcome of this new development. The new Teseo Mk2/E builds on a product line that is well recognised around the world and will support long into the future, the attractiveness of our naval products on export markets”.
The OTOMAT is an anti-ship and coastal defence missile developed by the Italian company Oto Melara jointly with Matra and now made by MBDA. The name comes, for the first versions, from the name of the two builders (OTO Melara MATra) and, for the later versions, Teseo, from the Italian word for Theseus. In this regard it is considering the possibility of equipping the missile with a new terminal “head” with dual RF seeker (Radio Frequency) and, presumably, given the need to attack pure ground targets, IIR (IR imaging). Compared to the predecessor OTOMAT / TESEO, the TESEO “EVO” has a double range, more than 360 km.
The Teseo Mk2/E missile system will equip the next generation destroyer (DDX) and could replace the previous Mk2/A version onboard FREMM and Horizon class frigates. The new multi-purpose Offshore Patrol Vessels (PPA – Pattugliatori Polivalenti d’Altura), currently in production, are already fit for Teseo Mk2/E installation in future. In the anti-ship weapon market Teseo Mk2/E will represent a new standard with its very high performance, and will be ready to be tailored for international requirements. This solution is the result of joint MBDA and Italian Navy technical and programme activities over the past three years that matured the concept of this advanced system.
