(NSI News Source Info) ROME - May 13, 2009: Pakistan will test-fire next spring the Spada 2000 air defense system it has acquired from MBDA Italia, officials at the Italian firm said. 
The Spada 2000 is an all-weather, day and night, highly automated, air defence system developed by MBDA (formerly Alenia Marconi Systems). The system has quick reaction time and requires very few operators to man the system. The unit can operate independently or can be integrated with national air defence centres. Spada 2000 is in production and in service with Spanish Air Forces.
The Spada 2000 is an upgraded version of the Spada air defence system providing significant operational and technological improvements, including increased firepower and range, and the capability of coordinating additional anti-air weapons. In March 2007, Kuwait ordered the upgrade of its Aspide missile systems to Aspide 2000 / Spada 2000 configuration.
The test-firing, which will be staged in Pakistan in the first half of 2010, will follow the delivery in February of the first of 10 Spada batteries ordered by Pakistan for 415 million euros ($565.1 million) in 2007.
"We aim to deliver all 10 of the batteries within 36 months of the test-firing, that is to say by 2013," said Antonio Perfetti, CEO of MBDA Italia, which is the Finmeccanica-owned Italian operation within the European missile house MBDA.
Operated by Italy and Spain, each Spada 2000 system features two firing sections, each containing two to four missile launchers, each hosting six Aspide 2000 missiles. The missiles have an intercept range of more than 20 kilometers.
Since the contract became operational in February 2008, MBDA has launched the construction of facilities in Karachi for maintenance on the systems.
The set-up forms part of an offset arrangement on the sale, which Perfetti said had been "important" to winning the contract.
Two facilities are being prepared, one for maintenance of the Spada system and a second for guidance system testing and maintenance of the Aspide missiles, both completed in February.
Training of Pakistani technicians will start this year, while Pakistani military officials visited MBDA in Italy last week to follow progress, part of a cycle of visits.
Perfetti said the Italian military was continuing to act as liaison with the customer. A second MBDA official added that the Italian Air Force had already helped prove the effectiveness of the system in 2005 when it staged eight test-launches at its Salto di Quirra range for visiting Pakistani officials.
The Spada 2000 is an all-weather, day and night, highly automated, air defence system developed by MBDA (formerly Alenia Marconi Systems). The system has quick reaction time and requires very few operators to man the system. The unit can operate independently or can be integrated with national air defence centres. Spada 2000 is in production and in service with Spanish Air Forces.
The Spada 2000 is an upgraded version of the Spada air defence system providing significant operational and technological improvements, including increased firepower and range, and the capability of coordinating additional anti-air weapons. In March 2007, Kuwait ordered the upgrade of its Aspide missile systems to Aspide 2000 / Spada 2000 configuration.
The test-firing, which will be staged in Pakistan in the first half of 2010, will follow the delivery in February of the first of 10 Spada batteries ordered by Pakistan for 415 million euros ($565.1 million) in 2007.
"We aim to deliver all 10 of the batteries within 36 months of the test-firing, that is to say by 2013," said Antonio Perfetti, CEO of MBDA Italia, which is the Finmeccanica-owned Italian operation within the European missile house MBDA.
Operated by Italy and Spain, each Spada 2000 system features two firing sections, each containing two to four missile launchers, each hosting six Aspide 2000 missiles. The missiles have an intercept range of more than 20 kilometers.
Since the contract became operational in February 2008, MBDA has launched the construction of facilities in Karachi for maintenance on the systems.
The set-up forms part of an offset arrangement on the sale, which Perfetti said had been "important" to winning the contract.
Two facilities are being prepared, one for maintenance of the Spada system and a second for guidance system testing and maintenance of the Aspide missiles, both completed in February.
Training of Pakistani technicians will start this year, while Pakistani military officials visited MBDA in Italy last week to follow progress, part of a cycle of visits.
Perfetti said the Italian military was continuing to act as liaison with the customer. A second MBDA official added that the Italian Air Force had already helped prove the effectiveness of the system in 2005 when it staged eight test-launches at its Salto di Quirra range for visiting Pakistani officials.
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