NATO exercises once again demonstrated the high air defense capabilities of the missile Aster of MBDA in providing long-range protection from challenging airborne threats.
The Exercise Formidable Shield saw four launches of Aster successfully conducted by the British Royal Navy, the French Navy and the Italian Navy against supersonic and subsonic targets sea skimming and maneuvering.
The Exercise Formidable Shield It is the largest exercise of its kind in Europe, is run from Hebrides Firing Range in the UK and is designed to test the Alliance's Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) capabilities.
In the exercise, which saw 13 allied countries and 20 NATO warships cooperate to test their integrated air defense capabilities against a range of challenging scenarios, theAster successfully completed the planned single launches against all targets.
During the Exercise, the Italian Navy frigate "Margottini" successfully launched a Aster 30 against a supersonic target Coyote GQM-163A and a Aster 15 against a target Firejet. The French Navy frigate 'Bretagne' launched a Aster 30 against a supersonic target Coyote GQM-163A and Royal Navy destroyer 'HMS Defender' successfully fired Aster 30 against a Firejet.
