CHRISTINA MACKENZIE / PARIS
The reorganisation of Europe's missile industry has taken a further step forward with the creation of Roxel, a 50:50 MBDA and SNPE Matériaux Energétiques joint venture.
The shareholders say Roxel will have annual sales of c150 million ($162 million) and will be Europe's largest, and the world's third biggest tactical missile propulsion provider.
Roxel will comprise the former Royal Ordnance (RO)rocket motors division and Celerg. RO is a subsidiary of BAE Systems, which part owns MBDA, while Celerg is a 50:50 joint venture between SNPE and EADS. RO sold its rocket motors business to Roxel as part of the deal.
Roxel is registered in France and will comprise French and UK subsidiaries. David Quancard has been appointed chief executive with Andrew Hilton as chief financial officer.
Celerg provides the rocket motors for several European programmes including the Euromissile Aster surface-to-air missile (SAM), while RO provides the propulsion system for the Rapier SAM and the ASRAAM air-to-air missile.
Quancard says: "The formation of Roxel has secured the future of both the UK and French tactical propulsion businesses." He adds that "by providing a depth of expertise across a wide spectrum of technology, Roxel will not only be able to maintain a high level of support for existing weapon systems, it will also be ideally positioned to develop robust competitive solutions for future programme requirements".
Source: Flight International