The Ministry of Defence has awarded a £2 million contract to MBDA UK to examine the feasibility of integrating the Mk41 Vertical Launching System with the Aster 30 missile.
According to a transparency notice published on 30 January, the contract will fund a one-year integration study assessing the technical viability of operating Aster missiles from the widely used Mk41 launcher system. The work is expected to run from February 2026 to March 2027. The study will explore compatibility between the Aster missile family and the Mk41 system, with the aim of informing future capability development and improving operational flexibility across the Royal Navy’s surface fleet.
The Ministry of Defence said the findings would support longer-term decisions on launcher commonality, potentially reducing the requirement to maintain separate vertical launch systems for different missile types. MBDA UK was selected through a direct award process on technical grounds. As the original equipment manufacturer for the Aster missile, MBDA holds the specialist design authority and technical data required to assess integration feasibility. The company also retains contractual rights to relevant Mk41 technical data from Lockheed Martin, the launcher’s manufacturer.
The department stated that there were no reasonable alternatives capable of conducting the work to the required level of technical assurance. The contract, valued at £1.67 million excluding VAT, falls under military research and technology services and does not constitute a decision to procure or install Mk41 launchers on Royal Navy vessels, the MOD added.
Instead, the study is intended to test viability and identify potential risks, costs and constraints associated with integration, including regulatory, technical and programme dependencies. The Mk41 Vertical Launching System is in service with numerous NATO navies and supports a wide range of missile types, including air defence, strike and anti-submarine weapons. Aster 30, currently deployed aboard the Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyers as part of the Sea Viper air defence system, is launched from the Sylver vertical launch system.
The Ministry of Defence noted that the study’s outputs will be used to inform strategic choices rather than commit to a specific configuration, with any future decisions remaining subject to affordability, operational need and the Defence Investment Plan. No timelines or platforms have been identified for any potential follow-on activity.
Good news, and hopefully a pathway to broader deployment across the fleet, given that all our future escorts will be armed with a significant quantity of Mk41 cells (as planned – I know the T31 is nebulous). That of course would require changes to the radar systems on the frigates, but it’s a start. It also makes British pitches to both Denmark and Sweden for the Type 31 frigates more appealing.
I’m glad this process is starting more than a decade before the Type 83 is provisionally due to enter service. The British procurement system has a history of delays, and a moment in the 2040s in which our air defence destroyers lack their missiles would be far too familiar.
I am worried about how this process will function, however. LockMart and the integration of foreign weapon systems onto their products, specifically British products, is hardly a combination that inspires confidence. For all the marketing mumbo-jumbo about various systems being Mk41 compatible, the actual pool of integrated foreign missiles is tiny – just the Japanese Type 07 anti-submarine missile (which is a slightly different situation, as Japan constructs its own Mk41 systems).
Doesnt necessitate changing the frigates if they dont plan to use Aster on them.
I know, I’m saying that would be required IF they decided to use them.
Can’t they be cued from the T45 radar? Obviously a limitation when they’re on their own, but they’re less likely to need BM interception for those types of missions.
Not without a system like CEC
All I can say is I read an article recently referencing such a future concept and its feasibility. It’s desirable exploiting Samson considering its capabilities until its replacement on future platforms but as Hugo mentions would involve widespread sensor fusion and upgrade to the ships fire control. Will it happen I’m sure there will be a Committee or 5 for that over the next decade.
I presume this is in order to equip T83 with MK41, enabling Aster/CAMM/strike/ASM all in one flexible VLS.
I wonder if Aster 30 can dual pack+
Definitely not, the interceptor may be small but the booster is not.
MBDA in France has already done some investigative work on this potential option simply as a precaution to losing out on Aster sales, clearly not desirable for them and their gated platform but certainly was deemed feasible should it be deemed essential. So will be interesting to know where that left off and this new very wise new feasibility study picks up. Hopefully there won’t be any internal conflicts, which might be the biggest hurdle knowing French intransigence, so let’s hope they are on side (if reluctantly no doubt) with opening it up. With fears over US mischief it might be a real opportunity for MBDA to cash in.
“…does not constitute a decision to procure or install Mk41 launchers on Royal Navy vessels”
What utter drivel! We have already contracted for Type 26s to have Mk41s and announced that Type 31s will have them added. We declared the full integration of Stratus missiles with Mk41, so what’s with the coy messaging? It’s like announcing that buying a frigate doesn’t constitute a decision to employ sailors. What are you afraid of, MOD? That someone might actually believe you capable of making coherent strategic decisions? Do I really need to explain that’s a good thing? Do I?
Its not drivel, its stating that this isnt related to the purchase of Mk41 systems for ships such as say T31, which has had nothing contracted.
And stratus hasnt even flown yet, so its years off intergration.
Good news, the Artisan radar is capable of queuing aster 30 so this may see the T26 eventually become more of a destroyer along the lines of the River class from Canada with a better theatre level of air defence while the T45 moves up to ABM capability more like a cruiser.
I think Aster 30 on T26 rather than T31 or the T91 providing additional missiles for a T45 using CEC is a more likely outcome from this trial.