At the MBDA stand in Seafuture, the life-size mockup of the Teseo Mk2/E anti-ship and ground attack missile under development at the MBDA headquarters in La Spezia was presented to the public for the first time.
The new Teseo Mk2 / E version has been designed to be able to effectively counter both marine and land targets at very long range with full autonomous control of the mission during the flight phases.
The Teseo Mk2 / E missile will integrate an innovative mission planning system and will be equipped with a new advanced dual mode seeker with radio frequency for anti-ship contrast missions and sensor to hit land targets along the coasts with extreme precision. Moreover, it is expected that additional features and capabilities may be implemented in the near future, such as new types of sensors. The new missile will have the ability to be reprogrammed in flight; in fact, MBDA has for some time been studying and offering a SATCOM version of the Teseo that allows the control and updating of data as well as the possible re-addressing of the missile to another satellite target during the cruise flight.
To double the range of the missile (currently the Teseo Mk2 / A reaches about 180 km) it was necessary to adopt a new Williams turbofan in place of the current Turbomeca TR 281 Arbizon III. The warhead has also received substantial updates to make it more powerful and able to effectively hit various types of land targets. Like the Teseo Mk2 / A, the Mk2 / E will also be a highly subsonic missile. The guidance system is INS / GPS and programmable with 3D way-point.
The Teseo Mk2 / E was created to cope with ever-changing terrestrial threats and is the result of the study and development activities carried out jointly by MBDA and the Italian Navy over the last three years.
The new Teseo Mk2 / E missile will equip the new generation destroyers (DDX) under development and is a candidate to replace the previous version Mk2 / A (OTOMAT Mk2 Block IV) aboard the Andrea Doria (Orizzonte) class destroyers and frigates Bergamini class (FREMM IT).
The seven new Thaon de Revel class Multipurpose Offshore Patrol boats, currently in various stages of construction and completion, are already prepared for a possible future installation of the Teseo Mk2 / E. Moreover, at the moment the embarkation of these missiles is foreseen on the Full version of the PPAs and only, optionally, for the Light plus and Light versions.
