Europe’s missile producers are making a splash at this year’s DSEI UK 2025 event for the global defence industry as MBDA just revealed that it is transitioning to the development phase for its new family of missiles designed for the Future Cruise/Anti-Ship Weapon (FC/ASW) programme, a joint initiative between France, Britain and Italy. As proof of progress, the shape and model of the missiles were unveiled as well as the new name for the “one programme, two missiles,” family: STRATUS.
STRATUS LO (previously TP 15), developed under British leadership with Rolls-Royce and Safran joining forces with MBDA, is designed for stealth deep strike operations whilst STRATUS RS (previously RJ10), under French leadership, uses high speed and manoeuvrability for rapid strike missions.
The two are meant to be complementary to allow flexibility for any scenario and compatible for air, sea or land launches. Matt Delvoye writes, “Their mission set extends from long-range precision strikes to anti-ship warfare, as well as suppression and destruction of enemy air defences and the neutralisation of high-value assets.”
The announcement is a reminder that the European missile market is active and shared between several competing players and partners providing a comprehensive range, but still faces many challenges in the current geopolitical context. EU Member States have been rushing to increase military capabilities and the Russian threat just went up a notch when it invaded Poland’s air space.
Former European Central Bank Chief Mario Draghi reported that between 2022-2023, 78% of EU countries’ defence spending went overseas with 63% of purchases coming from the US. But Politico argues that “Since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the White House, the continent’s overreliance on American weapons is facing a reckoning as European countries rush to boost defense spending and rebuild their industries.”
To this end, European defence companies and countries have proven they can work together to optimise innovations and technologies which has led to the production of some of the world’s most effective, battle-proven missiles. Such collaboration is also now helping them address the one capability Europe is lacking: deep precision strike of 500+ kilometres.
Pan-European Deep Strike Partnerships
A report from The French Institute of International Relations (Ifri) best summarises the context:
The prospect of a major conflict with Russia, combined with the uncertainty around US involvement, is pushing European militaries to develop their deep strike capabilities, particularly ground-to-ground. Washington’s shift of focus to the Asian theatre is prompting European armed forces to equip themselves with sufficient conventional assets to conduct deep strike missions without US help… Militaries that have never had deep strike capabilities now want to obtain them, while those that already have them are trying to increase their power and reach longer ranges…
France and Britain foresaw this need when the countries signed the Lancaster House agreement in 2010 and launched the FC/ASW programme in 2017. The goal is to replace the Scalp/Storm Shadow air-launched missiles and Exocet and Harpoon anti-ship missiles currently in service with an integrated, sophisticated system by 2030. Italy signed on in 2023 and since then, MBDA in the three countries has engaged some 750 engineers to work on what it is now calling STRATUS. Dedication to the project was reiterated this past July when Macron and Starmer signed the Lancaster House 2.0 agreement saying the two nations would “Launch the development phase of the Future Cruise and Anti-Ship Weapon (FC/ASW) programme to provide the next generation of long-range, highly survivable deep strike missiles.”
Britain and France also agreed to “continue to work closely on current and future long-range strike capabilities through the European Long-Range Strike Approach (ELSA) initiative.” Considering no EU country possesses “a conventional ground-launched missile with a range greater than 300 kilometres,” ELSA participants (Germany, Italy, Poland, and Sweden in addition to the UK and France) are particularly looking to fill this capability gap. Amongst potential solutions, Germany and the UK recently agreed to develop a deep precision strike capability of 2,000 km within the next decade that will be “among the most advanced systems” although a model has not yet been chosen. MBDA is also proposing its Land Cruise Missile (LCM), a soon-to-be-available evolution of its battle-tested Missile de Croisière Naval/Naval Cruise Missile (MdCN-NCM).
Made in Europe Missiles
Both projects involve, or potentially involve, missile projects from MBDA because the company produces the majority of Europe’s missiles and because, as the Financial Times reports, “the company is one of the few truly cross-border defence companies in Europe, and is owned by Britain’s BAE Systems and Airbus, which hold 37.5 per cent each, and Italy’s Leonardo, which holds the balance.” MBDA’s orders are up since Russia invaded Ukraine and the company is investing €2.4 billion through 2029 to fast-track production.
This will help meet the recent order of 218 additional Aster missiles from France, Italy and the UK, with many intended to equip the Franco-Italian SAMP/T NG air defence system, featuring advanced radars from Thales and Leonardo. And for recent orders of its Storm Shadow (British) and SCALP (French) missiles used since 2003 by France, Britain, Italy and Greece in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Pakistan, etc. and most recently by Ukraine “for precision strikes on key Russian infrastructure, including command centers and logistical nodes.” Ukraine has also been asking Germany to supply it with its Taurus KEPD 350 cruise missiles (made by MBDA Deutschland and Sweden’s Saab Bofors Dynamics), but to no avail for the moment.
Saab Bofors Dynamics also collaborates with Germany’s Diehl Defence to design and produce the RBS15 Mk3 long-range (200+ km) anti-ship missile that can be integrated on truck-mounted launcher modules (developed by Diehl) to protect coasts against naval threats or can be used on corvettes, frigates and other ships. The missile is being used by Finland, Poland, Germany and Sweden.
Neighbouring Norwegian Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace is equipping Poland, Norway, Spain, the UK, Canada, the US, and Malaysia with its Naval Strike Missile (NSM, 300 km), an anti-ship and land-attack missile, and Germany, Norway, Japan and the US with its Joint Strike Missile (JSM), a derivative of NSM. This past summer, the NSM was successfully live-fired from the EuroPULS (MARS 3) rocket artillery system and “The integration of the NSM provides the platform with the ability to engage naval targets at long range, transforming the ground-based launcher into a versatile coastal defense and anti-ship system.”
No Need to Depend on Washington
From submarines to frigates to aircrafts, Europe has some of the most advanced technological platforms in the world and produces cutting-edge missiles that will be further enhanced by the addition of top-notch, deep precision strike capabilities upon completion of the STRATUS and LCM projects. But projects like these are at risk if European countries continue to buy defence equipment from abroad. Missile expert Fabian Hoffmann contends, “German and European decision-makers must finally recognize that there are no quick fixes… This requires acknowledging that modern war demands thousands of conventional long- and deep-strike capabilities, backed by a robust and continuous order intake.”
And as Politico argues, “Europeans have all the assets to make cutting-edge military equipment — including the brains, industrial tools and money…” but now European leaders need to conscientiously decide to end Europe’s military reliance on America by choosing to privilege European-made missiles. European defence sovereignty depends on it.
