The Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR) has announced an agreement to accelerate and expand the production of Aster missiles for France, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
The agreement, signed on 11 March 2025, marks a significant step in enhancing European air defence capabilities in response to evolving security threats, say OCCAR.
OCCAR Director Joachim Sucker and Eurosam Managing Director Anne Diaz De Tuesta signed Amendment 15 of the FSAF-PAAMS Sustainment & Enhancement (S&E) contract. According to OCCAR, the amendment “focuses on the improvement of European production capabilities for Aster missiles in order to accelerate and increase the production for the Ground and Naval Air Defence systems employed by the three Nations’ forces.”
The contract modification will allow Eurosam and its affiliate MBDA to deliver Aster 15 and Aster 30 missiles within a shorter timeframe.
The three nations’ defence procurement agencies—Italy’s Segretariato Generale della Difesa (SGD), France’s Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA), and the UK’s Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S)—collaborated closely with OCCAR to finalise the contract. OCCAR described the amendment as “a further catalyst that promotes and reinforces the existing cooperation amongst the three nations.”
The Aster missile family forms a key component of various European air defence systems, equipping the navies, air forces, and armies of France, Italy, and the UK.
OCCAR highlighted the agreement’s importance within the “current geopolitical environment,” reinforcing the need for “upgraded Air-Defence systems to face increasingly more challenging threats.” The deal also supports the ongoing development of the SAMP/T New Generation air defence system.
The contract modification is part of broader European efforts to strengthen integrated air and missile defence capabilities amid growing concerns over aerial threats.
France just approved it. The speed of manufacturing all types of missiles, especially Aster has increased a lot. The same thing is happening for Mistral and Mica.
[ 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐔𝐬 ]
Start your career with us today and work from the comfort of your home! No skills or experience required—just your dedication and a desire to succeed. Receive your payments weekly or monthly, depending on your preference. It’s a great opportunity to kickstart your career, earn a steady income, and enjoy the flexibility of working on your own terms! So Hurry and
Get Started Now.”….. 𝐖𝐰𝐰.𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐭𝟏.𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞/
The new order is for 218 Aster 15 and 30 missiles, plus more rapid delivery of a previous order for 132 missiles. It’s not stated how many of these missiles are for the UK (Aster 30 B1 variant only), but probably less than a third given that we use only Aster to arm the six T45’s. Note that the missiles are developed and manufactured in France and Italy – with almost zero UK content. The UK is just an export customer, paying over Euro 2 million (c.£1.7 million) a missile. No wonder Sea Ceptor (about £0.2 million a missile) is being fitted to the T45’s, essentially replacing Aster 15.
You might be surprised at how many parts of the A30 are UK made.
I was very surprised to find out that the casings are made in the UK.
But I quite agree sovereign is very important and cost effective is also very important – so we can make them and afford to make them.
Time for a UK production facility?
why? the UK is not part of Eurosam.
We can still build them under license.
possibly if you were ordering many missiles it may make economic sense, but the UK only uses Aster on Type 45 and no plans to use Aster on other ships nor does UK have any ground bases systems like SAMP/T.
Nice shot of HMS Duncan (the CEC antennas are a dead giveaway). Has the list of escorts for the CSG 25 deployment been disclosed yet?
Nothing definitive that i have seen,with such a small Fleet now it can’t be easy to get every Escort Ready for what will be a long Deployment.I think HMS’s Dauntless and Richmond are a safe bet ,Dragon is a possibility too if two T45’s are deemed essential,plus HNoMS Roald Amundsen.
It’s widely envisaged that the Gosport Ferry will be a big part of this trip.
Are the chickens coming home to roost for the MOD and these globalist politicians, panic ? And yes it is a weaknesses that we rely on a foreign country to manufacturer them: its a good job its by private business.
We really really need to..we also need to up our conventional deterrents, as in our abilities to really hurt Russia in meaningful and obvious ways ( Putin needs to see our ability to be able to make lots of big obvious explosions on Russian infrastructure for it to deter him…defence is not a deterrent). Russia now see the UK as essentially its number one enemy..we are the leaders of anti Russian sentiment in Europe..if he comes for anyone I actually think it may now be us.
Shot their load in the red sea then
Interesting that HMS Diamond had to put into Gibraltar to restock missiles after her Red Sea action. Makes me think then that the missile silo wasn’t completely full to begin with as there is no way she fired off 48 Aster missiles during her action.
Not sure what the normal loadout is but seems that she had a quarter of a full silo before needing to replenish.