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Jul 30 2025

2nd Successful Qualification Firing for ASTER B1NT Missile

Biscarrosse/France, 30 July 2025. A second Aster B1NT (B1 New Technology) missile, developed by Eurosam and its members MBDA and Thales, was successfully launched from the SAMPT system in the French DGA Essais de Missiles firing range, in the presence of the trilateral (France, Italy and the UK) FSAF-PAAMS Programme participating states and OCCAR representatives.

This firing campaign called “Minerve” managed by the French DGA EM[1] firing range, follows on from the first successful firing campaign called “Mercure”, launched in October 2024. It validates the Aster B1NT missile’s extended long-range capability thanks to several improvements implemented in this new generation of the Aster family. This additional successful firing contributes also to the qualification of the Long Range SAMP/T NG system, and further demonstrates the operational enhancement offered by the use of the Aster B1NT missile to intercept more difficult aerial and missiles targets.

This event is another great achievement for the bilateral Aster B1NT and SAMP/T NG programmes managed by OCCAR for France and Italy. It is the result of intense work and collaboration between OCCAR teams, the experts from the two Nations - in particular from DGA, Direzione Nazionale degli Armamenti/DNA, Armée de l’Air et de l’Espace (French Air and Space Force), and the contractors, Eurosam (MBDA and Thales) teams. It is a new major milestone in the development of the new generation Air Defence assets for the Armée de l’Air et de l’Espace, the Esercito Italiano (Italian Army) and the Aeronautica Militare (Italian Air Force).

The Aster B1NT missile is also set to be integrated on other naval programmes managed by OCCAR for the Navies (Marine Nationale and Marina Militare).

DGA video link