The companies “MBDA”, “Krauss-Maffei Wegmann” (KMW) and “ESG Elektroniksystem-und Logistik-GmbH” (ESG) signed a cooperation agreement to develop the JFS-M cruise missile for the MARS II rocket launcher system.

The aim of the cooperation is the further expansion and implementation of the Joint Fire Support Missile (JFS-M) concept for the German armed forces. The new JFS-M guided missile will be used with existing MARS II (M270) artillery rocket systems and other platforms.

It is produced by the company “Krauss-Maffei Wegmann” under license “MARS II” (М270). It was decided to take the control station to the ESG company, which produces the ADLER III weapon control and deployment system. The JFS-M missile will be handled by the MBDA company, it has the necessary experience in creating cruise missiles.

According to the design of the designers, the missile range of this system will reach 500 km. The design task facing the specialists of the three companies is to combine a cruise missile with a transport-launch cassette of a standard salvo fire system.

In the standard version, six launch tubes are built into it. Their numbers will likely be reduced to two to accommodate cruise missiles. Dimensional requirements are pretty strict, rockets must be cheap, at the request of the Bundeswehr.

According to the design of the MBDA company’s designers, the missile must safely enter the enemy’s air defense zone, detect potential targets before they are detected, and detect new threats in sufficient time to neutralize them. To do this, the JFS-M will actively maneuver, hiding behind the natural curves of the terrain to confuse the air defense and hide the launch position.