PARIS, March 29 (UPI) -- The French army's Mistral surface-to-air missile firing stations are to be outfitted with a new optronic aiming sight produced by the French company Sagem.
Sagem, in a news release, said its Matis MP3 optronic aiming sight was chosen for the modernization effort by MBDA, the multinational missile manufacturer.
The MBDA contract to Sagem covers the development and production of the sight and its new thermal imager for 186 launching stations, within a scope of a modernization contract that French defense procurement agency awarded to MBDA, which is the prime contractor for the Mistral missile.
The Matis MP3 is a day/night sight that significantly enhances the Mistral missile's capabilities in several key areas:
-- extended detection and identification ranges;
-- greater operability under different weather conditions;
-- integration of day and night channels in the same system.
The Matis system is comprised of a dual-field IR channel with a 3-5 micrometer VGA detector; dual-field daytime channel and latest-generation electronics that support image processing.
It is also fitted with a magnetic compass and Global Positioning System receiver.
The value of the award and other contract details weren't disclosed.
