Royal Navy of Oman fires MBDA’s VL MICA missile

MBDA’s VL MICA missile has been successfully operationally fired from the Royal Navy of Oman’s (RNO’s) Al Shamikh Ocean Patrol Vessel (OPV).

The firing took place off the coast of the Ile du Levant in the Mediterranean Sea at the French DGA’s test range under the supervision and control of the DGA-EM.

According to MBDA, the firing saw the VL MICA missile successfully intercept and destroy the target at very low altitude. The target was simulating a sea skimming anti-ship missile.

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.

The company said the success of this firing is evidence of the operational capability of the RNO with its new vessel and weapon system.