Missile maker MBDA buys Safran’s stake in rocket-engine supplier Roxel

PARIS — Pan-European missile maker MBDA bought the remaining 50% of rocket-engine supplier Roxel from co-owner Safran, in a move the company expects will help it ramp up production in the face of surging demand.

MBDA acquired Safran’s stake in Roxel on Dec. 19, it said in a statement on Monday. The deal gives Europe’s largest tactical-missile maker full control over its main supplier of propulsion , including for flagship products such as the Aster air-defense interceptor, Exocet anti-ship rocket, Meteor air-to-air missile and Akeron MP antitank munition.

As Europe rushes to beef up air defenses in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, MBDA has seen orders surge to record levels , and the company is investing at least €2.4 billion (US$2.5 billion) over five years to expand production capabilities. In the United States, tight supply of rocket motors has hampered efforts by Lockheed Martin and RTX to boost missile production there.

“This transaction is to support Roxel’s operational and industrial excellence,” MBDA CEO Éric Béranger said in the statement. “It also aims to provide an even more optimal response to the ramp-up challenges posed by the context of war economy, both in development and in production.”

MBDA plans to invest over several years to boost production at Roxel, which it says would have been more complicated to implement in the joint-venture format. While the missile maker doesn’t face a shortage of rocket motors at this time, MBDA says it saw a need to vertically integrate Roxel in anticipation of an increased missile production pace.

Roxel is being integrated as a wholly-owned subsidiary, but will continue to manage its business independently and honor all existing contracts with other system suppliers, MBDA said. The rocket-engine maker’s clients also include Saab and Lockheed Martin.

The acquisition comes at a time of major growth and investment, and will accelerate Roxel’s development as well as consolidate the engine maker’s role as a national champion in France and the U.K., according to MBDA. The company declined to say what it paid for the 50% stake.

Roxel has annual sales of about €200 million and employed around 900 people in 2024. The maker of solid-propulsion systems for tactical and cruise missiles, which says it has a 60% share of the European market for its products, gets a large majority of its sales from MBDA.

“This acquisition will enable us to further develop innovation in new solid propulsion technologies,” Roxel CEO Sylvie Grison said. “Additionally, this integration operation will make it easier to optimize industrial cycles for faster ramp-up.”

France has pushed for MBDA to speed up production in what the government dubs a shift to a war economy, though opposition lawmakers have pointed out the country is not actually at war. The French and British navies have been using Aster interceptors to down Houthi drones and missiles targeting shipping in the Red Sea, while the munition is also used by the SAMP/T air-defense system protecting Kyiv.

MBDA plans to triple production of CAMM missiles between 2022 and 2026, lift output of Aster interceptors by 50% over the period, quadruple the monthly volume of Mistral short-range air-defense missiles between 2022 and 2025 and increase production of the Akeron antitank missile by 2.5 times. Roxel supplies the motors for all of those products.

Roxel also supplies the rocket booster for MBDA’s Naval Cruise Missile, comparable to Raytheon’s Tomahawk and carried by France’s multi-role frigates and nuclear attack submarines. MBDA is offering a ground-launched version of the missile, which the company says could be a short-term option for the European Long Range Strike Approach, or ELSA, a pan-European effort to equip the continent with a sovereign long-range cruise missile.

Roxel was formed in 2003 by the merger of France’s Celerg and the U.K.’s Royal Ordnance Rocket Motors. and has a production site in the U.K. and three in France. MBDA is a joint venture between Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo.

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——泛欧导弹制造商MBDA从共同所有者赛峰集团手中收购了火箭发动机供应商Roxel剩余的50%股份，该公司预计此举将有助于其在需求激增的情况下提高产量。

MBDA周一在一份声明中表示，已于12月19日收购了赛峰集团在Roxel公司的股份。这项交易使这家欧洲最大的战术导弹制造商完全掌控了其主要推进系统供应商，包括旗舰产品，例如“紫菀”防空拦截导弹、“飞鱼”反舰导弹、“流星”空空导弹和“阿克龙”反坦克弹药。

为应对俄罗斯入侵乌克兰，欧洲各国纷纷加紧加强防空力量，MBDA公司的订单量飙升至历史新高。该公司计划在未来五年内投资至少24亿欧元（约合25亿美元）以扩大产能。在美国，火箭发动机供应紧张阻碍了洛克希德·马丁公司和RTX公司提升导弹产量的努力。

MBDA首席执行官埃里克·贝朗热在声明中表示：“此次交易旨在支持Roxel的卓越运营和工业能力。同时，也旨在为应对战时经济环境下研发和生产方面面临的产能提升挑战提供更优化的应对方案。”

MBDA计划在未来几年内投资提升Roxel公司的产能，该公司表示，如果采用合资模式，这将更难实现。尽管这家导弹制造商目前并不面临火箭发动机短缺的问题，但MBDA表示，考虑到导弹产量增长的预期，有必要对Roxel公司进行垂直整合。

MBDA表示，Roxel将作为全资子公司被整合，但仍将独立运营，并履行与所有其他系统供应商签订的所有现有合同。这家火箭发动机制造商的客户还包括萨博和洛克希德·马丁公司。

MBDA表示，此次收购正值Roxel公司高速发展和大力投资之际，将加速其发展，并巩固这家发动机制造商在法国和英国的行业领军地位。该公司拒绝透露收购50%股份的具体金额。

Roxel公司2024年的年销售额约为2亿欧元，员工人数约为900人。这家为战术导弹和巡航导弹生产固体推进系统的制造商声称，其产品在欧洲市场占有60%的份额，其大部分销售额来自MBDA公司。

Roxel首席执行官Sylvie Grison表示：“此次收购将使我们能够进一步开发新型固体推进技术。此外，此次整合将有助于优化工业生产周期，从而加快产能爬坡速度。”

法国政府敦促MBDA加快生产，称之为向战时经济转型，但反对派议员指出，法国实际上并未处于战争状态。法国和英国海军一直在使用“紫菀”（Aster）拦截机击落胡塞武装在红海袭击船只的无人机和导弹，同时，用于保卫基辅的SAMP/T防空系统也使用了这种弹药。

MBDA计划在2022年至2026年间将CAMM导弹的产量提高三倍，同期将Aster拦截导弹的产量提高50%，在2022年至2025年间将Mistral短程防空导弹的月产量提高四倍，并将Akeron反坦克导弹的产量提高2.5倍。Roxel公司为所有这些产品提供发动机。

罗克塞尔公司还为MBDA公司的海军巡航导弹提供火箭助推器，该导弹与雷神公司的“战斧”巡航导弹性能相当，并由法国的多用途护卫舰和核动力攻击潜艇搭载。MBDA公司正在提供一种陆基发射版本的导弹，该公司表示，这可以作为欧洲远程打击计划（ELSA）的短期方案。ELSA是一项泛欧计划，旨在为欧洲大陆配备自主研发的远程巡航导弹。

Roxel公司成立于2003年，由法国Celerg公司和英国皇家军械火箭发动机公司合并而成，在英国设有一个生产基地，在法国设有三个生产基地。MBDA是空中客车公司、英国航空航天系统公司和莱昂纳多公司的合资企业。

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。