Leonard T. Koonce 
The British Ministry of Defense (MoD) has entrusted MBDA with the supply of the Sea Ceptor system intended to protect the new Type 31 frigates of the British Royal Navy.
The contract will see MBDA integrate Sea Ceptor into the systems of Type 31 vessels.
He will also be responsible for the delivery and installation of ship hardware for the Type 31 program.
Sea Ceptor is a sea-based supersonic missile defense system developed for the British Royal Navy.
It was developed by MBDA Missile Systems, a partnership between BAE Systems, EADS (now Airbus) and Finmeccanica (now Leonardo).
The Sea Ceptor is based on MBDA’s Modular Common Anti-Aircraft Missile (CAMM).
This system allows Type 31 frigates to protect themselves against attacks from current and future threats such as high speed maneuver missiles, attack aircraft and coastal attack fast boats (FIACs).
The latest contract is part of the Portfolio Management Agreement (PMA), a partnership the UK Ministry of Defense signed with MBDA in 2010.
The Sea Ceptor program is the second contract awarded under the PMA. The first contract was signed between the Ministry of Defense and MBDA in 2010.
The PMA supplies state-of-the-art military equipment to the British Armed Forces and has secured over 4,000 jobs at MBDA UK. It has generated savings valued at over £ 1.2 billion.
Eric Béranger, CEO of MBDA, said: “We are very happy to mark this latest success for the CAMM family.
“The Sea Ceptor was designed to be a game-changer in naval air defense and, with the Type 31 the latest in a growing list of classes of ships that the Sea Ceptor has been chosen to protect, it is quickly delivering on that promise.”
Currently, the Sea Ceptor is in service with the Type 23 frigates of the Royal Navy. It should also protect the new Global Type 26 Combatant (GCS).
