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73-607: The Akeron MP entered operational service with the French army in 2018 and was developed by MBDA France to replace the Franco-German MILAN and American FGM-148 Javelin . Designed to primarily equip infantry units, this all-weather day and night system incorporates a multi-purpose missile with anti-tank, anti-infrastructure and anti-personnel selectable modes; it has a range of up to 5 km. The missile can also be integrated on combat vehicles or naval vessels , and

146-433: A diesel engine ; modern technology, including the use of turbo-charging , helps to overcome the lower power-to-weight ratio of diesel engines compared to petrol. Gas turbine (turboshaft) engines offer a very high power-to-weight ratio and were starting to find favour in the late 20th century – however, they offer very poor fuel consumption and as such some armies are switching from gas turbines back to diesel engines (i.e.

219-447: A main battle tank will normally be designed to take hits from other tank guns and anti-tank missiles , whilst light reconnaissance vehicles are often only armoured "just in case". Whilst heavier armour provides better protection, it makes vehicles less mobile (for a given engine power), limits its air-transportability, increases cost, uses more fuel and may limit the places it can go – for example, many bridges may be unable to support

292-494: A turret or cupola. The greater the recoil of the weapon on an AFV, the larger the turret ring needs to be. A larger turret ring necessitates a larger vehicle. To avoid listing to the side, turrets on amphibious vehicles are usually located at the centre of the vehicle. Grenade launchers provide a versatile launch platform for a plethora of munitions including, smoke , phosphorus, tear gas , illumination, anti-personnel, infrared and radar-jamming rounds. Turret stabilization

365-744: A British Army engineer. They were very popular with smaller countries. Some saw some combat (with limited success) in World War II. However, the vulnerability of their light armour eventually caused the concept to be abandoned. However, the German Army uses a modern design of air-transportable armoured weapons carriers, the Wiesel AWC , which resembles the concept of a tankette. The term "super-heavy tank" has been used to describe armoured fighting vehicles of extreme size, generally over 75 tonnes. Programs have been initiated on several occasions with

438-763: A Vickers QF-1 "Pom-Pom" gun of 40 mm. The Germans fielded the Sd.Kfz. 10/4 and 6/2, cargo halftracks mounting single 20 mm or 37 mm AA guns (respectively) by the start of the war. Rocket launchers such as the Soviet Katyusha originated in the late 1930s. The Wehrmacht fielded self-propelled rocket artillery in World War II – the Panzerwerfer and Wurfrahmen 40 equipped half-track armoured fighting vehicles. Many modern multiple rocket launchers are self propelled by either truck or tank chassis. The level of armour protection between AFVs varies greatly –

511-457: A confined space, i.e. reduced backblast on launch, and for improved guidance that could target non-IR-emissive (cold) targets as well as AFVs with a reduced risk of collateral damage. Compared to its predecessors it contains a great deal of modern and COTS electronics, rather than the previously slow-moving development of military procurement. The missile and its guidance system offer three different firing modes: Despite these new features, it

584-435: A highly mobile and protected fighting unit has been around for centuries; from Hannibal 's war elephants to Leonardo 's contraptions , military strategists endeavoured to maximize the mobility and survivability of their soldiers. Armoured fighting vehicles were not possible until internal combustion engines of sufficient power became available at the start of the 20th century. Modern armoured fighting vehicles represent

657-599: A number of subsidiaries, including one in the United States , MBDA Inc (50 employees). Shareholders, as of 2019: The consolidation within Europe's missile industry began in 1996 when half of the missile business of Matra Hautes Technologies (the Matra conglomerate's aerospace, defence and telecommunications division) merged with the missile activities of BAe Dynamics (itself a division of British Aerospace ) to form

730-467: A tank being first deployed as a medium tank, but in later years relegated to light tank roles. Tanks were also classified by roles that were independent of size, such as cavalry tank , cruiser tank , fast tank , infantry tank , "assault" tank, or "breakthrough" tank. Military theorists initially tended to assign tanks to traditional military infantry, cavalry, and artillery roles, but later developed more specialized roles unique to tanks. In modern use,

803-414: A tank chassis. During World War II, most major military powers developed self-propelled artillery vehicles. These had guns mounted on a tracked chassis (often that of an obsolete or superseded tank) and provided an armoured superstructure to protect the gun and its crew. The first British design, "Bishop" , carried the 25 pdr gun-howitzer in an extemporised mounting on a tank chassis that severely limited

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876-508: A test tunnel to confirm missile safety for the operating crew. MMP was displayed at Eurosatory 2014. The first firing trial of the MMP was carried out by the DGA in its Bourges facilities on 3 February 2015, with the missile hitting a fixed target at a range of over 4,000 meters. The development programme had been funded privately by MBDA, and scheduled to be completed by 2017. On 29 November 2017,

949-450: A very large movable siege tower, the helepolis , as early as 340 BC, and Greek forces used such structures in the Siege of Rhodes (305 BC). The idea of a protected fighting vehicle has been known since antiquity. Frequently cited is Leonardo da Vinci 's 15th-century sketch of a mobile, protected gun-platform ; the drawings show a conical, wooden shelter with apertures for cannons around

1022-488: A wide variety of both ground targets and air targets. Despite significant advances in anti-tank warfare , it still remains the most versatile and fearsome land-based weapon-systems of the 21st-century, valued for its shock action and high survivability . A tankette is a tracked armed and armoured vehicle resembling a small "ultra-light tank" or "super-light tank" roughly the size of a car, mainly intended for light infantry support or scouting . Tankettes were introduced in

1095-622: Is a tank fulfilling the role of a main battle tank, but using only anti-tank surface-to-surface missiles for main armament. Several nations have experimented with prototypes, notably the Soviet Union during the tenure of Nikita Khrushchev (projects Object 167, Object 137Ml, Object 155Ml, Object 287, Object 775), A flame tank is an otherwise-standard tank equipped with a flamethrower , most commonly used to supplement combined arms attacks against fortifications , confined spaces, or other obstacles. The type only reached significant use in

1168-620: Is also being offered with its Infantry Firing Post for the Army's LAND 4108 program, which is seeking a replacement to the in-service Javelin ATGW. At Eurosatory 2018, the French Army's new Jaguar reconnaissance vehicle was unveiled with a pod of two MMP integrated next to the turret. During the exhibition, MBDA and Milrem Robotics also announced the start of feasibility studies of an “anti-tank unmanned ground vehicle”. The joint project integrates

1241-430: Is an important capability because it enables firing on the move and prevents crew fatigue. Modern AFVs have primarily used either petrol (gasoline) or diesel piston engines. More recently, gas turbines have been used. Most early AFVs used petrol engines , as they offer a good power-to-weight ratio . However, they fell out of favour during World War II due to the flammability of the fuel. Most current AFVs are powered by

1314-426: Is distinguished by its high level of firepower, mobility and armour protection relative to other vehicles of its era. It can cross comparatively rough terrain at high speeds, but its heavy dependency on fuel, maintenance, and ammunition makes it logistically demanding. It has the heaviest armour of any AFVs on the battlefield, and carries a powerful precision-guided munition weapon systems that may be able to engage

1387-520: Is notably expected to arm French armoured vehicles such as the EBRC Jaguar , Griffon MMP and Serval MMP . A long-range, air-launched missile of the same family, the Akeron LP ( Akeron Longue Portée ), is also under development. It is intended to equip the upcoming French Eurocopter Tiger MkIII. The MMP programme originated in 2009 to develop a successor to MBDA's forty-year old MILAN. This

1460-454: The Cold War tank war of the original MILAN requirement. In theatres such as Iraq and Afghanistan , man-portable missile were often used against strongpoints and improvised armour within populated areas. Reducing collateral damage to nearby civilians became a major political factor in such campaigns. Particular developments over existing missiles were for it to be safe for operators within

1533-755: The Hussite Wars . These heavy wagons were given protective sides with firing slits; their heavy firepower came from either a cannon or from a force of hand-gunners and crossbowmen , supported by light cavalry and infantry using pikes and flails . Heavy arquebuses mounted on wagons were called arquebus à croc . These carried a ball of about 3.5 ounces (100 g). By the end of World War II , most modern armies had vehicles to carry infantry, artillery and anti-aircraft weaponry . Most modern AFVs are superficially similar in design to their World War II counterparts, but with significantly better armour, weapons, engines, electronics, and suspension. The increase in

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1606-607: The MOWAG Piranha , originally designed as an APC, has been adapted to fill numerous roles such as a mortar carrier , infantry fighting vehicle, and assault gun. Armoured fighting vehicles began to appear in use in World War I with the armoured car, the tank, the self-propelled gun, and the personnel carrier seeing use. By World War II, armies had large numbers of AFVs, together with other vehicles to carry troops this permitted highly mobile manoeuvre warfare . The concept of

1679-776: The Russian Marines with the PT-76 , the British Army with the Scimitar , and the Chinese Army with the Type 63 . Modern main battle tanks or "universal tanks" incorporate recent advances in automotive, artillery, armour, and electronic technology to combine the best characteristics of the historic medium and heavy tanks into a single, all-around type. They are also the most expensive to mass-produce. A main battle tank

1752-484: The Second World War (1939–1945). The armoured personnel carrier, designed to transport infantry troops to the frontline, emerged towards the end of World War I. During the first actions with tanks , it had become clear that close contact with infantry was essential in order to secure ground won by the tanks. Troops on foot were vulnerable to enemy fire, but they could not be transported in the tank because of

1825-597: The Second World War , during which the United States, Soviet Union , Germany , Italy , Japan and the United Kingdom (including members of the British Commonwealth ) all produced flamethrower-equipped tanks. Usually, the flame projector replaced one of the tank's machineguns, however, some flame projectors replaced the tank's main gun. Fuel for the flame weapon was generally carried inside

1898-602: The Viper Strike activity of Northrop Grumman in Huntsville, Alabama . In August 2022, MBDA Missile Systems' data was hacked from a compromised external hard drive. The data allegedly included blueprints of NATO weapons used in the Russo-Ukrainian War , and 80 Gb of such data was sold for 15 Bitcoin. NATO started an investigation trying to assess and minimize the impact of this data breach. Overall,

1971-641: The 50/50 joint venture Alenia Marconi Systems (AMS). In 1999, British Aerospace purchased and merged with GEC-Marconi to form BAE Systems. Thus the newly-formed BAE Systems gained ownership of both BAe Dynamics' 50% stake in Matra BAe Dynamics and GEC-Marconi Radar and Defence Systems' 50% stake in Alenia Marconi Systems; while Alenia Difesa's 50% stake in the latter remained under the ownership of Finmeccanica, which would later be rebranded Leonardo. In December 2001, AAM , MBD and

2044-649: The 50/50 joint venture Matra BAe Dynamics (MBD). Three years later, the other half of Matra Hautes Technologies's missile business (Matra Missiles) and Aérospatiale 's missile systems division were consolidated to form Aérospatiale Matra Missiles (AMM) following the merger between Aérospatiale and Matra Hautes Technologies in 1999. As a result of these developments, the new French corporation, Aérospatiale-Matra, not only had AAM as its wholly-owned missile division but also now held Matra's 50% stake in MBD. In 2000, Aérospatiale-Matra merged with Germany's DASA and Spain's CASA to form

2117-721: The DGA and the STAT organised another firing campaign in order to test the performance of the MMP in cold conditions. They performed three successful firings in Sweden with temperature reaching -30 °C. In July 2021, the Direction Générale de l'Armement (DGA) signed a letter of intent with the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration ( Försvarets materielverk or FMV ) to cooperate on a new anti-tank system. A bilateral framework agreement

2190-481: The DGA announced the delivery of a first batch of 20 firing posts and 50 MMP missiles after a successful operational evaluation firing campaign held by the French Army. The first units will be used for training ahead of deployment in 2018. Initial plans in the 2014-2019 French Military Programming Law (LPM) were for 400 firing posts and 1,750 missiles to be delivered to the French Army's infantry and cavalry units as well as special forces of all military branches by 2025. In

2263-546: The European Aeronautic Defence and Space or EADS (now rebranded Airbus); the latter thus gained ownership of all of Aérospatiale-Matra's assets, including its stakes in joint ventures; which is how Airbus came to be one of MBDA's three parent companies. In 1998, GEC-Marconi Radar and Defence Systems (a subsidiary of GEC-Marconi ) and Alenia Difesa  [ it ] (a subsidiary of Finmeccanica) combined their missile and radar activities to form

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2336-941: 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 employs around 13,000 people worldwide as of 2023 and, despite being an integrated company, has maintained national divisions since its creation: MBDA France (over 6,000 employees), MBDA UK (over 4,000) and MBDA Italy (1852). They were formed by simply grouping in their respective countries

2409-598: The Milrem Robotics THeMIS unmanned ground vehicle with the MBDA IMPACT (Integrated MMP Precision Attack Combat Turret) system fitted with two MMP. In August and September 2018, the French Army conducted a firing campaign in Djibouti in order to test the ability of the missile to operate in a desert environment. According to the government, nine MMP were successfully fired. Two of them were fired by

2482-514: The Russian T-80 used a gas turbine engine, whereas the later T-90 does not). The US M1 Abrams is a notable example of a gas turbine powered tank. Notable armoured fighting vehicles extending from post-World War I to today. The tank is an all terrain AFV incorporating artillery which is designed to fill almost all battlefield roles and to engage enemy forces by the use of direct fire in

2555-545: The aim of creating an invincible siegeworks / breakthrough vehicle for penetrating enemy formations and fortifications without fear of being destroyed in combat. Examples were designed in World War I and World War II (such as the Panzer VIII Maus ), along with a few in the Cold War . However, few working prototypes were built and there is no clear evidence any of these vehicles saw combat, as their immense size would have made most designs impractical. A missile tank

2628-610: The assets and activities of the various French, British and Italian businesses that had merged to create MBDA. In March 2006, LFK-Lenkflugkörpersysteme GmbH, the German missile subsidiary of EADS, was acquired by MBDA and in 2010, an office was opened in Madrid , Spain , leading to the formation of two additional national divisions: MBDA Germany (1,200 employees) and MBDA Spain (25). In 2023, MBDA generated €4.5 billion in revenue. It works with over 90 armed forces worldwide and also has

2701-400: The battlefield. The classifications are not absolute; two countries may classify the same vehicle differently, and the criteria change over time. For example, relatively lightly armed armoured personnel carriers were largely superseded by infantry fighting vehicles with much heavier armament in a similar role. Successful designs are often adapted to a wide variety of applications. For example,

2774-409: The bottom of the hull. Weaponry varies by a very wide degree between AFVs – lighter vehicles for infantry carrying, reconnaissance or specialist roles may have only a autocannon or machine gun (or no armament at all), whereas heavy self-propelled artillery will carry howitzers , mortars or rocket launchers. These weapons may be mounted on a pintle , affixed directly to the vehicle or placed in

2847-484: The capacity of transport aircraft makes possible and practicable the transport of AFVs by air. Many armies are replacing some or all of their traditional heavy vehicles with lighter airmobile versions, often with wheels instead of tracks. The first modern AFVs were armed cars, dating back virtually to the invention of the motor car . The British inventor F. R. Simms designed and built the Motor Scout in 1898. It

2920-627: The circumference. The machine was to be mounted on four wheels which would be turned by the crew through a system of hand cranks and cage (or "lantern") gears . Leonardo claimed: "I will build armoured wagons which will be safe and invulnerable to enemy attacks. There will be no obstacle which it cannot overcome." Modern replicas have demonstrated that the human crew would have been able to move it over only short distances. Hussite forces in Bohemia developed war wagons – medieval horse-drawn wagons that doubled as wagon forts – around 1420 during

2993-485: The commandos from an ECUME rigid hulled inflatable boat (RHIB). The missiles were integrated in a stabilised and teleoperated turret, thus opening the way to a naval version of the MMP. In December, the Picardy Battle Group conducted an operation in the three-border region in the south-east of Mali , during which the MMP was deployed and used for the first time in a combat theatre. In early 2019, MBDA,

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3066-688: The day/night sensors of the MMP fire control, as well as two ready-to-fire missiles and a 7.62 mm machine gun and its ammunition for self-defense. In 2017, MBDA offered its MMP to the Australian Defence Force as an integrated ATGW on both the Boxer (on the 30 mm Lance turret) and the BAE Systems AMV35 vehicles (on the 35 mm BAE Hägglunds turret) under the Australian Army's LAND 400 program. The missile

3139-744: The engagement, therefore requiring ease of operation, fire and forget guidance and a capability to fire the missile from confined spaces. After competing against the Lockheed Martin / Raytheon Javelin and Rafael Spike , an order was placed in December 2013 by the French DGA to begin equipping the French Army with the MMP in 2017. Tests began in early 2014, with warhead tests against MBT armour and were pursued in April with launches in

3212-649: The first Self-propelled artillery , was fielded in 1917. It was based on the first tank, the British Mark I , and carried a heavy field-gun. The next major advance was the Birch gun (1925), developed for the British motorised warfare experimental brigade (the Experimental Mechanized Force ). This mounted a field gun, capable of the usual artillery trajectories and even anti-aircraft use, on

3285-681: The following 2019-2025 LPM, the target was raised to 1,950 missiles and finally, in the 2024-2030 LPM, to around 3,000 missiles. In addition to replacing the MILAN and the Javelin systems, the Akeron MP will also equip the EBRC Jaguar , which will succeed the HOT missile -armed VAB Mephisto in French service. The MMP was designed to overcome some of MILAN's limitations in the context of small-scale and counter-insurgency operations post-2000, rather than

3358-455: The following key features: The missile has a range of 4,000 metres (4,400 yd) as per the French requirement, but in May 2018 two test firings were able to hit targets at 5,000 metres (5,500 yd). At Eurosatory 2016, MBDA also unveiled its new IMPACT turret. This 250 kg motorized turret was presented on a Dagger, a small armored vehicle produced by Renault Trucks Defense . It carries

3431-438: The frontal assault role. Though several configurations have been tried, particularly in the early experimental "golden days" of tank development, a standard, mature design configuration has since emerged to a generally accepted pattern. This features a main tank gun or artillery gun , mounted in a fully rotating turret atop a tracked automotive hull, with various additional secondary weapon systems throughout. Philosophically,

3504-686: The group has 45 products in service and 15 more in development. MBDA's products include: Armoured Fighting Vehicle An armoured fighting vehicle ( British English ) or armored fighting vehicle ( American English ) ( AFV ) is an armed combat vehicle protected by armour , generally combining operational mobility with offensive and defensive capabilities. AFVs can be wheeled or tracked . Examples of AFVs are tanks , armoured cars , assault guns , self-propelled artilleries , infantry fighting vehicles (IFV), and armoured personnel carriers (APC). Armoured fighting vehicles are classified according to their characteristics and intended role on

3577-690: The gun's performance. It was replaced by the more effective Sexton . The Germans built many lightly armoured self-propelled anti-tank guns using captured French equipment (for example Marder I ), their own obsolete light tank chassis ( Marder II ), or ex-Czech chassis ( Marder III ). These led to better-protected tank destroyers, built on a medium-tank chassis such as the Jagdpanzer IV or the Jagdpanther . The Self-propelled anti-aircraft weapon debuted in WWI. The German 88  mm anti-aircraft gun

3650-400: The heavy tank has fallen out of favour, being supplanted by more heavily armed and armoured descendant of the medium tanks – the universal main battle tank . The light tank has, in many armies, lost favour to cheaper, faster, lighter armoured cars ; however, light tanks (or similar vehicles with other names) are still in service with a number of forces as reconnaissance vehicles , most notably

3723-498: The individual vehicle too, depending on the role of the vehicle and the likely direction of attack. For example, a main battle tank will usually have the heaviest armour on the hull front and the turret, lighter armour on the sides of the hull and the thinnest armour on the top and bottom of the tank. Other vehicles – such as the MRAP family – may be primarily armoured against the threat from IEDs and so will have heavy, sloped armour on

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3796-515: The intense heat and noxious atmosphere. In 1917, Lieutenant G. J. Rackham was ordered to design an armoured vehicle that could fight and carry troops or supplies. The Mark IX tank was built by Armstrong, Whitworth & Co. , although just three vehicles had been finished at the time of the Armistice in November 1918, and only 34 were built in total. Different tank classifications emerged in

3869-792: The interwar period. The tankette was conceived as a mobile, two-man model, mainly intended for reconnaissance. In 1925, Sir John Carden and Vivian Loyd produced the first such design to be adopted – the Carden Loyd tankette . Tankettes saw use in the Royal Italian Army during the Italian invasion of Ethiopia (1935–1936), the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), and almost everywhere Italian soldiers fought during World War II . The Imperial Japanese Army used tankettes for jungle warfare . The British Gun Carrier Mark I ,

3942-483: The mid-1920s as a reconnaissance vehicle and a mobile machine gun position They were one or two-man vehicles armed with a machine gun. Colloquially it may also simply mean a "small tank". Tankettes were designed and built by several nations between the 1920s and 1940s following the British Carden Loyd tankette which was a successful implementation of "one man tank" ideas from Giffard Le Quesne Martel ,

4015-472: The missile systems activities of AMS merged, thus fouding MBDA . In March 2006, LFK-Lenkflugkörpersysteme GmbH (LFK) , the German missile subsidiary of EADS , was acquired by MBDA. And on 9 May 2012, it was rebranded MBDA Deutschland GmbH . Together with its subsidiaries TDW and Bayern-Chemie, it forms MBDA Germany . Since February 2002, MBDA has owned 40% of Inmize Sistemas S.L., a Spanish company that

4088-504: The missile to address the future generation of targets that will arrive on the battlefield. MBDA MBDA is a European multinational corporation specialized in the design, development and manufacturing of missiles and related systems. Headquartered in Le Plessis-Robinson , France , the company was founded in December 2001 via the merger of three of the most prominent European missile systems companies:

4161-515: The muddy, pocked terrain and slit trenches of the Battle of the Somme . The tank eventually proved highly successful and, as technology improved, it became a weapon that could cross large distances at much higher speeds than supporting infantry and artillery . The need to provide the units that would fight alongside the tank led to the development of a wide range of specialised AFVs, especially during

4234-484: The opposing force who can often hear and even feel their arrival. Tanks were classified either by size or by role. Classification by relative size was common, as this also tended to influence the tanks' role. Over time, tanks tended to be designed with heavier armour and weapons, increasing the weight of all tanks, so these classifications are relative to the average for the nation's tanks for any given period. An older tank design might be reclassified over time, such as

4307-527: The realization of an ancient concept – that of providing troops with mobile protection and firepower. Armies have deployed war machines and cavalries with rudimentary armour in battle for millennia. Use of these animals and engineering designs sought to achieve a balance between the conflicting paradoxical needs of mobility, firepower and protection. Siege engines , such as battering rams and siege towers , would often be armoured in order to protect their crews from enemy action. Polyidus of Thessaly developed

4380-420: The requirement set by the French Army called for a multipurpose precision strike capability to equip the frontline units as well as special operation forces. The missile to be procured had to be able to destroy ground targets, fixed or moving, from light vehicles up to the latest generation MBTs, as well as personnel whether dismounted or protected behind fortifications. The firing officer had to be protected during

4453-439: The tank is, by its very nature, an offensive weapon. Being a protective encasement with at least one gun position, it is essentially a pillbox or small fortress (though these are static fortifications of a purely defensive nature) that can move toward the enemy – hence its offensive utility. Psychologically, the tank is a force multiplier that has a positive morale effect on the infantry it accompanies. It also instills fear in

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4526-613: The tank, although a few designs mounted the fuel externally, such as the armoured trailer used on the Churchill Crocodile . Flame tanks have been superseded by thermobaric weapons such as the Russian TOS-1 . The idea for this tank was developed during World War I by British and French. The infantry tank was designed to work in concert with infantry in the assault, moving mostly at a walking pace, and carrying heavy armour to survive defensive fire. Its main purpose

4599-475: The weight of a main battle tank. A trend toward composite armour is taking the place of steel – composites are stronger for a given weight, allowing the tank to be lighter for the same protection as steel armour, or better protected for the same weight. Armour is being supplemented with active protection systems on a number of vehicles, allowing the AFV to protect itself from incoming projectiles. The level of protection also usually varies considerably throughout

4672-442: Was equipped with a Hotchkiss machine gun , and with 7 mm armour for the gunner. Armoured cars were first used in large numbers on both sides during World War I as scouting vehicles. In 1903, H. G. Wells published the short story " The Land Ironclads ," positing indomitable war machines that would bring a new age of land warfare, the way steam-powered ironclad warships had ended the age of sail . Wells's literary vision

4745-476: Was formed to integrate the experience and technology of the major Spanish defence companies in the guided weapons sector. An office was opened in the country in 2010 to manage its local activities. As AMS had R&D assets located in California, MBDA also possess facilities in the United States, choosing to operate in the country via a wholly-owned subsidiary called MBDA Inc. In December 2011, MBDA Inc acquired

4818-498: Was particularly in response to a French urgent operational requirement which had also led to the purchase of the US-made Javelin in 2010, rather than additional MILAN missiles; 260 Javelins were ordered because of the missile's fire-and-forget capability. MBDA's improved MILAN-ER offer was rejected because it lacked such a feature. The UK, previously a major user of the MILAN system, had also converted to Javelin. In 2011,

4891-607: Was powered by a four-cylinder 3.3-litre 16 hp Cannstatt Daimler engine giving it a maximum speed of around 9 miles per hour (14 kilometres per hour). The armament, consisting of two Maxim guns, was carried in two turrets with 360° traverse. Another early armoured car of the period was the French Charron, Girardot et Voigt 1902 , presented at the Salon de l'Automobile et du cycle in Brussels , on 8 March 1902. The vehicle

4964-509: Was realized in 1916, when, amidst the pyrrhic standstill of the Great War , the British Landship Committee deployed revolutionary armoured vehicles to break the stalemate. The tank was envisioned as an armoured machine that could cross ground under fire from machine guns and reply with its own mounted machine guns and naval artillery . These first British tanks of World War I moved on caterpillar tracks that had substantially lower ground pressure than wheeled vehicles, enabling them to pass

5037-406: Was still to remain effective against modern AFV and MBT armour. A tandem warhead is used, making it effective against conventional, composite and reactive armour . Upon detonation, the warhead also sprays 1,500 tungsten splinters, effective against personnel out to 15 metres (49 ft). At commercial launch, MBDA introduced the MMP as the first land combat missile of 5th generation thanks to

5110-500: Was subsequently signed in April 2023 to enable joint studies, acquisitions and further development of the Akeron MP system for the French and Swedish Armed Forces . This will see the Akeron MP selected as the "RBS 58" in Swedish service, replacing the RBS 56 BILL . Saab will be MBDA's Swedish partner for the contract. The objective is to implement a joint capability roadmap in order to develop new functionalities associated in particular with beyond line-of-sight firing, and also to prepare

5183-531: Was the first armed, petrol-engine powered vehicle ever built. It consisted of a De Dion-Bouton quadracycle with a Maxim machine gun mounted on the front bar. An iron shield offered some protection for the driver from the front, but it lacked all-around protective armour. The armoured car was the first modern fully armoured fighting vehicle. The first of these was the Simms's Motor War Car , also designed by Simms and built by Vickers, Sons & Maxim in 1899. The vehicle had Vickers armour 6 mm thick and

5256-507: Was to suppress enemy fire, crush obstacles such as barbed-wire entanglements, and protect the infantry on their advance into and through enemy lines by giving mobile overwatch and cover . The French Renault FT was the first iteration of this concept. The British and French retained the concept between the wars and into the Second World War era. Because infantry tanks did not need to be fast, they could carry heavy armour. One of

5329-615: Was truck-mounted and used to great effect against British tanks, and the British QF 3-inch 20 cwt was mounted on trucks for use on the Western Front . Although the Birch gun was a general purpose artillery piece on an armoured tracked chassis, it was capable of elevation for anti-aircraft use. Vickers Armstrong developed one of the first SPAAGs based on the chassis of the Mk.E 6-ton light tank/ Dragon Medium Mark IV tractor , mounting

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