MBDA has signed an agreement with the Indian Air Force for the development of a local capability for the Maintenance, Repair and Mid-Life Overhaul (MRO) of MICA Missiles. The MRO facility will be set up, operated and maintained by the Indian Air Force, with MBDA supplying the industrial machinery and tools required, data packages, as well as training and technical support. Developing these facilities locally will foster long-term capability building, secure technical expertise for years to come, and develop India’s strategic autonomy, reflecting the core principles of Atmanirbhar Bharat, the ambitious campaign launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2020. This facility will help India’s domestic defense sustainment effort, improving turnaround times, with capacity to support MICA missiles throughout the duration of their time in service, significantly enhancing the operational capability and readiness of the Indian Armed Forces.
India and MBDA share a long history of partnership in equipping the Indian Air Force going back to the early days of air-to-air missiles. Throughout its history, the Indian Air Force has relied on MBDA’s missile systems to provide the latest air combat performance across a number of different aircraft types. MBDA today has two focuses: providing the highest performing missile technologies to the Indian Armed Forces, and secondly supporting Atmanirbhar Bharat as part of MBDA’s longstanding partnership strategy with India. With a strong reputation as a reliable partner that has supported the Indian Air Force for over 50 years, European missile firm MBDA understands the importance of operational capability and sovereignty to the IAF. For these reasons, the company has strongly committed to Make in India, to deliver both industrial sovereignty and the best military equipment to India.
The MICA (FMissile d’Interception, de Combat et d’Auto-défense) is a French anti-air multi-target, all weather, fire-and-forget short to medium-range missile system manufactured by MBDA France. It is intended for use both by air platforms as individual missiles as well as ground units and ships, which can be equipped with the rapid fire MICA Vertical Launch System. It is fitted with a thrust vector control (TVC) system. It was developed from 1982 onward by Matra. The first trials occurred in 1991, and the missile was commissioned in 1996 to equip the Rafale and Mirage 2000. MICA-EM and MICA-IR both can fulfill the roles of short-range and medium range BVR air to air missiles. On 11 June 2007, a MICA launched from a Rafale successfully demonstrated its over-the-shoulder capability by destroying a target behind the launch aircraft. The target was designated by another aircraft and coordinates were transmitted via Link 16.
MBDA is a European multinational corporation specialized in the design, development and manufacturing of missiles and related systems. Headquartered in Le Plessis-Robinson near Paris, France, the company was founded in December 2001 via the merger of three of the most prominent European missile systems companies: the French Aérospatiale Matra Missiles, the Anglo-French Matra BAe Dynamics and the missile division of the Anglo-Italian Alenia Marconi Systems. These businesses were subsidiaries of EADS (now called Airbus), BAE Systems and Finmeccanica (now Leonardo), and all three remain MBDA’s parent companies. MBDA works with over 90 armed forces worldwide and also has a number of subsidiaries, including one in the United States, MBDA Inc.
