Future Cruise/Anti-Ship Weapon
The FC/ASW ("Future Cruise/Anti-Ship Weapon"), FMAN/FMC ("Futur missile anti-navire/Futur missile de croisière" in French), FOSW ("Future Offensive Surface Weapon") or SPEAR 5 is a next generation missile programme launched by France and the United Kingdom in 2017 to succeed their jointly-developed Storm Shadow/SCALP as well as their respective Exocet and Harpoon anti-ship missiles. Equally funded by both countries, the project is led by European missile manufacturer MBDA and is a product of the close defence relationship set out between both nations by the Lancaster House treaties. In June 2023, it was announced Italy would join the programme and began allocating funding in November.
| Future Cruise / Anti-Ship Weapon(s) | |
|---|---|
| Type | Cruise missile(s) |
| Place of origin | France Italy United Kingdom |
| Service history | |
| In service | Expected 2028 (land-attack variant) and 2034 (anti-ship variant) |
| Used by | French Navy French Air Force Italian Air Force Italian Navy Royal Air Force Royal Navy |
| Production history | |
| Designer | MBDA |
In 2017, an agreement for the launch of a concept phase of the programme was signed between the two countries and, in March 2019, MBDA announced the key review of the programme was successfully completed in cooperation with the French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA) and the British Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S).
On 18 February 2022, an agreement and associated contracts signed by the head of the DGA, his British counterpart and the CEO of MBDA confirmed the launch of the preparation works for the FC/ASW.
As of 2022 the programme was examining two complimentary missile concepts: a low observable subsonic cruise missile and a supersonic highly manoeuvrable missile; with the apparent discontinuation of a hypersonic solution similar to the CVS401 Perseus which was an early hypersonic missile concept from MBDA developed with input from both France and the UK.
The latest timeline for the programme is that the assessment phase will be completed in 2024 and would move to the manufacturing phase from 2025 till 2035. There was also confirmation of two different, role-specific variants with the announcement that a deep-strike, land-attack variant would be delivered from 2028 and an anti-ship variant from 2034.