SOFINS 2023: MBDA readies Enforcer for delivery

MBDA Enforcer. (Janes/Amael Kotlarski)

MBDA's Enforcer lightweight missile launcher is in the final qualification phases and first deliveries to the German customer are expected in 2024, company officials told Janes at the SOFINS 2023 exhibition, near Bordeaux, France.

Developed by MBDA Germany at the request of German special forces, the Enforcer is designed to complement the Wirkmittel 90 (RGW 90) already in use. Under a contract signed in 2019, up to 3,000 Enforcer systems will be delivered to the German special forces, in whose service it will be known as the Wirkmittel 1,800+.

The Enforcer system consists of an 89 mm, lightweight, fire-and-forget, disposable missile launcher. The weapon weighs approximately 10 kg and can be used with either the Aimpoint Fire Control System 14 (FCS 14) or the Hensoldt Dynahawk fire-control systems. The latter has been selected for German service, as it is already in use with the Wirkmittel 90 and the Panzerfaust 3 weapons. The missile is powered by a two-stage rocket motor, has a range of 2 km, and is also capable of being fired in confined spaces. The missile is fitted with dual seekers, one consisting of a day camera and the other a thermal imager. The warhead, made by TDW GmbH, features a forward-firing explosively formed penetrator and a radial array of preformed fragments. The fuzing on the warhead can be set to impact, impact-delay, or airburst. A dedicated anti-tank variant, known as Enforcer X, is currently in development.

At SOFINS, MBDA demonstrated the Enforcer with a virtual reality (VR) headset. A company representative told Janes