Babcock, Frankenburg plan launcher for ‘smallest’ anti-drone missile

PARIS — British defense firm Babcock plans to develop a containerized launch system for low-cost missiles manufactured by Estonian startup Frankenburg Technologies, with the goal of providing cheap maritime defenses against one-way attack drones.

Babcock and Frankenburg signed a memorandum of understanding to explore development of a “new and affordable” maritime counter-drone air-defense system, with engineering led from the United Kingdom in order to provide a “new sovereign capability,” the companies said in a joint statement on Wednesday.

Tallinn, Estonia-based Frankenburg says it aims to develop missile systems that are ten times cheaper and a hundred times faster to produce than current industry capabilities. The company is run by CEO Kusti Salm, a former Estonia Ministry of Defence official, while former Diehl Defence executive Andreas Bappert is in charge of technology and engineering.

“The drone threat has changed the character of warfare, and every layer of defense now needs to be designed for mass and speed from the outset,” Salm said in the statement . Partnering with Babcock will allow for “accelerating the delivery of an operational maritime capability,” the CEO said.

The jointly developed air-defense capability will provide “more affordable, scalable and kinetic solutions” to protect military personnel and critical infrastructure sites across Europe, according to the companies, which said the cooperation will open up global export opportunities.

The move comes as armed forces across Europe are scrambling for cost-effective counters against the cheap drones that have become ubiquitous over the battlefield in Ukraine.

Salm has said Frankenburg’s Mark 1 missile is the world’s smallest guided missile. The company was picked by Estonia in October as one of four companies to set up production facilities in the country’s new Defence Industry Park, with plans for production capacity of 100 short-range air-defense missiles a day in a first phase.

The Mark 1 is around 60 centimeters long and was designed for mass production, powered by a solid-fuel rocket motor and built from commercially available components, with Frankenburg saying the missile was went from concept to live firing in 13 months.

The company in December announced its first “full kill-chain hard-kill intercept” against a fast-moving aerial target at Ādaži NATO base in Latvia, calling the test a “true “SpaceX moment” for the missile industry.”

“Defense has entered a new era with the rapid development of drone warfare and industry needs to respond to this growing threat,” Babcock CEO David Lockwood said in the statement.

Frankenburg signed an MoU with Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa in November to integrate the Estonian company’s missiles on PGZ platforms, with plans to establish local missile manufacturing capacity of up to 10,000 units a year.

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

巴黎——英国国防公司巴布科克计划为爱沙尼亚初创公司弗兰肯堡科技公司生产的低成本导弹开发集装箱式发射系统，目标是提供廉价的海上防御，以对抗单向攻击无人机。

巴布科克和弗兰肯堡签署了一份谅解备忘录，探讨开发一种“新型且价格合理的”海上反无人机防空系统，该系统的工程设计将由英国主导，旨在提供“新的自主能力”。两家公司周三在一份联合声明中表示。

总部位于爱沙尼亚塔林的弗兰肯堡公司表示，其目标是研发出比现有行业水平成本低十倍、生产速度快一百倍的导弹系统。该公司首席执行官库斯蒂·萨​​尔姆曾任爱沙尼亚国防部官员，而前迪尔防务公司高管安德烈亚斯·巴珀特则负责技术和工程方面的工作。

萨尔姆在声明中表示：“无人机威胁改变了战争的性质，如今每一层防御都需要从一开始就针对大规模和快速作战进行设计。”这位首席执行官还表示，与巴布科克公司合作将“加速交付海上作战能力”。

两家公司表示，联合开发的防空能力将提供“更经济实惠、可扩展且更具动能的解决方案”，以保护欧洲各地的军事人员和关键基础设施，并称此次合作将开辟全球出口机会。

此举正值欧洲各国武装部队争相寻找经济有效的反制手段，以应对在乌克兰战场上无处不在的廉价无人机之际。

萨尔姆曾表示，弗兰肯堡公司的Mark 1导弹是世界上最小的制导导弹。该公司于去年10月被爱沙尼亚选中，成为该国新建国防工业园区的四家生产企业之一，计划在第一阶段日产100枚短程防空导弹。

Mark 1 型导弹长约 60 厘米，专为大规模生产而设计，采用固体燃料火箭发动机提供动力，并使用市售组件制造。弗兰肯堡表示，该导弹从概念到实弹射击仅用了 13 个月。

该公司于 12 月宣布，在拉脱维亚阿达日北约基地成功对快速移动的空中目标进行了首次“全杀伤链硬杀伤拦截”，并称此次测试是导弹行业的“真正‘SpaceX 时刻’”。

“随着无人机战争的快速发展，国防进入了一个新时代，业界需要应对这一日益增长的威胁，”巴布科克公司首席执行官大卫·洛克伍德在声明中表示。

弗兰肯堡公司于 11 月与波兰武器集团 (Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa) 签署了一份谅解备忘录，将这家爱沙尼亚公司的导弹集成到 PGZ 平台上，并计划建立每年最多 10,000 枚的本地导弹制造能力。

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。