Paris - MBDA is bidding for contracts in British and French efforts to demilitarize cluster munitions as the two countries seek to safely dispose of 49,000 rockets in their multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS), the missile company said Nov. 6.
The disposal program is driven by British and French signature of the 2008 Oslo convention banning the use of cluster submunitions.
Britain holds 27,000 MLRS rockets fitted with cluster warheads, France 22,000, MBDA said.
MBDA is responding to a request for proposals issued by the NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency on behalf of the British Ministry of Defence, and is replying to a request for information from the DCMAT, the materiel and maintenance arm of the French Army, the company said in a statement.
"The MBDA proposal is both comprehensive and mature in offering the most cost-effective and efficient solution to both NAMSA and DCMAT," said Antoine Bouvier, MBDA chief executive.
MBDA's offer has the backing of the regional authorities for its Bourges-Soudray site, central France, which would be the center for disposing of the munitions. The facility has buildings that meet the required regulatory standards for the operations.
Given the large numbers involved, MBDA would use robotic handling equipment and a special furnace for burning at very high temperatures the propergol rocket propellant and explosives in the warhead. Filters are intended to meet emission standards and 97 percent of inert materials would be recycled, the company said.
The Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program is ready to test a few components that soldiers may have in their hands by 2010.
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