Article Posted on : - Oct 16, 2013

Naval VL MICA missile firing. Photo: MBDA/Michel Hans

PARIS (BNS): The Royal Navy of Oman (RNO) has recently conducted an operational naval VL MICA missile firing from the Al Shamikh Ocean Patrol Vessel (OPV), a Khareef class constructed by BAE Systems.

The live firing took place at the French MoD's test range off the coast of the Ile du Levant in the Mediterranean Sea under the supervision and control of the French DGA - EM (Direction Générale de l'Armement - Essais de Missiles).

The VL MICA missile successfully intercepted and destroyed at very low altitude the target which was simulating a sea skimming anti-ship missile, MBDA said in a statement.

The success of this firing is evidence of the operational capability of the RNO with its new vessel and weapon system, it added.

VL MICA is the latest generation of air defence systems and deploys the MICA missile vertically launched from a canister which serves for both storage and launch purposes. In its naval version, VL MICA provides both area air defence as well as self-defence of the host vessel.

MICA fire-and-forget missiles can be equipped with either IR or radar seekers and are capable of dealing with the full range of airborne threats as well as saturating attacks.