MBDA to Help Build Qatar’s Coastal Defense System

MBDA has secured a contract of an undisclosed value to build a coastal defense system that will work to help Qatar’s navy defend territorial waters against hostile ships.

The system will be designed to deploy an extended-range Marte missile and an Exocet MM40 Block 3 missile as well as feature autonomous radar mode and data-linking to a higher level within a coastal surveillance network, MBDA said Friday.

Pasquale di Bartolomeo, MBDA executive group director strategy, signed the agreement  with Maj. Gen. Mohammed Nasser Al Mohannadi, Qatari naval commander, during a ceremony held Thursday in Doha.

MBDA CEO Antoine Bouvier said the contract follows a deal that MBDA secured in June to supply missiles for integration into the Fincantieri-built vessels of Qatar’s navy.