European missile maker MBDA is rolling out a new defensive weapon aimed at stopping swarms of low-cost drones and munitions — a challenge that modern wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have made increasingly urgent.
The weapon, called the Counter Mass Interceptor, was set to make its public debut at the Farnborough Airshow in England on Monday. It is designed to give European militaries and NATO allies a homegrown option for defending against waves of cheap, mass-produced weapons.
An MBDA representative explained the gap in current European capabilities, telling Reuters: “Today in Europe, there is no sovereign system capable of addressing saturation.”
“That means that if we want to address this threat, we are forced to rely on non-European systems, whether American, Israeli or others,” the representative added.
Currently, the United States relies on systems like the precision-guided APKWS — the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System — which is produced by BAE Systems along with U.S. companies Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics.
The economic challenge of modern drone warfare is significant. Shooting down an inexpensive drone often requires a missile that costs far more than the drone itself, straining both defense budgets and ammunition supplies.
Russia’s widespread deployment of Shahed drones against Ukraine, along with Iran’s use of the same drones in its conflict with the U.S., has underscored the urgent need for affordable, scalable countermeasures.
The first version of the interceptor is designed to take down smaller drones. MBDA plans to follow it with a second, longer-range interceptor capable of targeting not only drones but also rockets, gliding bombs, and subsonic missiles — and able to function in any weather conditions.
MBDA said its British teams are currently leading development of the program, though a future version is expected to be led by the company’s French division.
According to MBDA, an initial version of the interceptor could be available as early as 2028. The company said production could be handled either by industrial partners or directly through MBDA itself, using existing facilities and repurposed assembly lines.
“We are moving closer to an automotive-industry model. The goal is to be able to manufacture at scale,” the MBDA representative said.
