Xmobots and MBDA to develop missile-armed drone in Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazilian drone company Xmobots and France’s MBDA have signed a memorandum of understanding to work together on a proof of concept to integrate the Enforcer missile with the Nauru 1000C RPAS, a 150-kg system selected by the Brazilian Army for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (Istar) missions.

The Enforcer missile is a next-generation lightweight guided missile system that weighs about seven kilograms and can engage a variety of light and lightly armored targets, including fast-moving vehicles and armored targets.

The Enforcer Air version is fired from a casing with a total weight of fewer than 30 kilograms, has very low launch recoil, and is capable of receiving external data from target acquisition and determination sensors.

This is precisely the case with the Nauru 1000C suite, which is fully manufactured and integrated by Xmobots and capable of transmitting target data to the missile’s computers.

With a maximum range of 1,800 m to 2 km, the Enforcer can destroy light vehicles, lightly armored military vehicles, equipment, and logistics vehicles, or even, depending on the point of impact, incapacitate tanks or armored combat vehicles by destroying their sensors and “blinding” the enemy vehicle in combat.

Its use as a “strike” tool for surgical strikes using special forces becomes even more evident when a CAT-2 RPAS such as the Nauru 1000C is brought into the loop, enabling the location, attack, and destruction of high-value targets without endangering the lives of the drone pilots of the Nauru 1000C + Enforcer Air duo.

According to Giovanni Amianti, CEO of Xmobots, in addition to proof-of-concept activities, the memorandum also provides the opportunity for industrial collaboration and offset projects with the Brazilian industry.

“XMobots has consistently excelled in the civil drone market and through its ANAC (Brazilian Aeronautical Authority) certifications and is the only RPAS drone company certified by ANAC to fly above 400 feet or BVLOS with a range of 30 km. The entry into the defense market in 2019 was aimed at meeting the recurrent requirements of the South American Armed Forces. This partnership with MBDA consolidates our technological capabilities and places Brazil in a group of countries that develop and produce armed drones,” Amianti explained.

“An important point is that Enforcer is the first missile integrated into a Brazilian drone, which will lead to a technological disruption in the market for low-cost armed drones, since Nauru 1000C and Enforcer are significantly smaller and lighter, and both have a better cost-benefit ratio,” praised Amianti.

Patrick de La Revelière, MBDA’s vice president for Latin America, said, “We are pleased to officially establish our new relationship with Xmobots. This Memorandum of Understanding demonstrates once again our commitment to long-term partnerships with the Brazilian industry.

As part of the industrial collaboration, MBDA will continue to expand its relationships with Brazilian organizations to develop world-class technologies for the Brazilian Armed Forces following successful technology transfer projects in Brazil. We look forward to working with Xmobots and deepening our strategic relationship in the future.

MBDA is the only European defense group capable of developing and producing missiles and missile systems that meet the full range of current and future operational requirements of all three armed forces (land, sea and air).

MBDA is jointly owned by Airbus (37.5%), BAE Systems (37.5%) and Leonardo (25%) and currently supplies the Brazilian Armed Forces with Mistral short-range air defense missiles, all three versions of Exocet anti-ship missiles and the Ceptor sea-based air defense system, among others for the Tamandaré-class frigate program.

With information from infodefensa