With 100% national technology, the MANSUP – Surface Anti-Ship Missile Program has taken another step towards Brazilian technological autonomy. In a successful operation on September 20th, on the coast of Cabo Frio (RJ), the Brazilian Navy launched the weapon for the fourth time, an initiative that marks the beginning of the product’s qualification phase.
In the previous stage, by launching three prototypes, the engineering solutions adopted for the missile to meet the established requirements were tested.
Now, the improved subsystems are being tested. “This will ensure that the missile is manufactured with the best technology available, adding greater robustness and efficiency to the product, and meeting all the conditions initially imposed,” says the Navy Weapons Systems Director, Vice Admiral Marco Antonio Ismael Trovão de Oliveira.
According to CMG Walter Menezes, Manager of the MANSUP Project at DSAM, “the qualified subsystems in this launching presented results superior to what was expected and this is due to the commitment and quality of the technical personnel involved in the project, all Brazilians. Another launch is planned for later this year to test the subsystems already produced and to conduct qualification tests, in which more than 200 parameters of the missile will be monitored in each flight. The schedule for this stage is expected to be completed by 2025.
The Ezute Foundation, responsible for specialized services of Complementary Management and Technical Consulting in support of the MB in the program, accompanied the tests with its onboard team. According to Eng Mahler, project manager at the Foundation, “the test went as planned, the results proved that the missile performance is within expectations and the subsystems that were evolved had a correct performance”.
MANSUP is a complex and multidisciplinary project, with high technological content, which brings together a number of companies in the defense area. The Foundation has been part of the program since 2010 alongside different suppliers and the companies contracted to develop the technology of the smart missile, designed to perform “sea skimming” type flights.
According to the Brazilian Navy, the knowledge obtained during the project and the architecture model adopted predict that potential modernizations can be safely implemented within a period of two years.
*** Translated by the DEFCONPress FYI Team ***