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MBDA Confirms Air Defense System Sale to Pakistan
By TOM KINGTON
Published: 16 Apr 13:54 EDT (17:54 GMT)
ROME - European missile house MBDA has officially confirmed the sale of its Spada 2000 air defense system to the Pakistan Air Force.
Speaking here April 16, Chief Executive Antoine Bouvier said the deal for 10 batteries was worth 415 million euros ($656.56 million) over five years, adding that the contract was signed last August and put into force in February.
The Spada 2000, produced by the Italian-controlled part of the firm, MBDA Italia, and used by Italy and Spain, includes a 60-kilometer-range radar and two firing sections, each containing two missile launchers with six Aspide 2000 missiles each. The missiles have an intercept range of more than 20 kilometers.
"This is a wonderful achievement," Bouvier said of the Pakistan deal. "It was a tough fight."
Industrial sources have told Defense News that the Spada system defeated competition from Raytheon, Diehl BGT and Saab.
MBDA Italia represents the 25 percent stake held in MBDA by Italy's Finmeccanica group.
A series of firing tests that formed part of the evaluation program with the Pakistan Air Force will be followed soon by further firing tests for qualification purposes, Bouvier said. He hopes the deal may be expanded in the future.
Although the deal officially fell under the responsibility of MBDA as a whole, Bouvier said "strong support" was provided by the Italian government and Finmeccanica. The Italian Air Force assisted with pre-contract firing tests in Pakistan, he added.
The export license for the deal was processed in Italy and helped push MBDA Italia to the top of Italy's chart of defense firms ranked by exports for 2007 - calculated on the basis of export licenses issued - with an 18.5 percent share of exports worth 443 million euros.
MBDA Confirms Air Defense System Sale to Pakistan - Defense News
By TOM KINGTON
Published: 16 Apr 13:54 EDT (17:54 GMT)
ROME - European missile house MBDA has officially confirmed the sale of its Spada 2000 air defense system to the Pakistan Air Force.
Speaking here April 16, Chief Executive Antoine Bouvier said the deal for 10 batteries was worth 415 million euros ($656.56 million) over five years, adding that the contract was signed last August and put into force in February.
The Spada 2000, produced by the Italian-controlled part of the firm, MBDA Italia, and used by Italy and Spain, includes a 60-kilometer-range radar and two firing sections, each containing two missile launchers with six Aspide 2000 missiles each. The missiles have an intercept range of more than 20 kilometers.
"This is a wonderful achievement," Bouvier said of the Pakistan deal. "It was a tough fight."
Industrial sources have told Defense News that the Spada system defeated competition from Raytheon, Diehl BGT and Saab.
MBDA Italia represents the 25 percent stake held in MBDA by Italy's Finmeccanica group.
A series of firing tests that formed part of the evaluation program with the Pakistan Air Force will be followed soon by further firing tests for qualification purposes, Bouvier said. He hopes the deal may be expanded in the future.
Although the deal officially fell under the responsibility of MBDA as a whole, Bouvier said "strong support" was provided by the Italian government and Finmeccanica. The Italian Air Force assisted with pre-contract firing tests in Pakistan, he added.
The export license for the deal was processed in Italy and helped push MBDA Italia to the top of Italy's chart of defense firms ranked by exports for 2007 - calculated on the basis of export licenses issued - with an 18.5 percent share of exports worth 443 million euros.
MBDA Confirms Air Defense System Sale to Pakistan - Defense News