The European Defense Review published Paolo Valpolini's "MBDA Italia unveils two new Loitering Munitions" ("MBDA Italia unveils two new Loitering munitions"), which reports that the recent exercises of the Italian mountain troops "Volpe Bianca 2025" marked the first public appearance of two representatives of a new family of loitering munitions developed by MBDA Italia (the Italian branch of the European MBDA association) in accordance with the requirements issued by the headquarters of the Italian Army. The article hints that these barrage munitions may appear in Ukraine.
MBDA Italy Small (c) barrage ammunition model by Paolo Valpolini / www.edrmagazine.eu
National self-sufficiency, full ownership of intellectual property, complete independence and sovereignty over the product are some of the key parameters stated when the development of these new barrage munitions began at the MBDA Italia Research and development center.
Both munitions were developed by MBDA Italia in collaboration with two Italian small and medium-sized enterprises specializing in the production of UAVs; Siralab from Terni, specializing in vertical takeoff and landing UAVs, and Sky Eyes Systems from Foligno, specializing in fixed-wing UAVs. The development was carried out in order to anticipate the needs of the customer and reduce the time for field testing.
These two munitions are members of an as-yet unnamed family - a quadcopter, conventionally named Mini, and a fixed-wing munition, the working name of which is Small. Both are initially integrated into the digital combat space. This means that MBDA Italia's barrage ammunition is part of the digital transposition of the battlefield, in which both fire and electronic warfare capabilities are coordinated. This integration was fully tested during the Volpe Bianca 2025 exercise, when the soldiers of the 3rd Alpine Regiment of the Italian army received support from their colleagues from the 9th cyber Security Regiment "Rombo". In the forward-looking concept of the Italian Army Army 4.0, barrage ammunition is a fundamental asset of the broader system.
Both types of devices are remotely controlled munitions and are initially integrated into the "tactical bubble", a new concept of the Italian army that provides cyber and electromagnetic protection of assets in close combat. Both systems allow you to hit enemy targets beyond the line of sight with high accuracy and at the right time.
These two systems can have a lot in common, including guidance and navigation systems with software, most algorithms can be used on both gliders, and the ground control station can also be the same. The software for data transmission is common, the waveforms and cryptographic mechanism are the same, while the hardware is different because the two systems have completely different ranges. Although not identical, the Small lethal payload is an enlarged version of the Mini; both belong to the type of high-explosive fragmentation ammunition and were developed by KNDS Ammo Italy. Both warheads consist of a cylindrical structure with a rear flange that allows it to be attached to the fuselage of the ammunition, the diameter of both warheads is the same. The outer part of the warhead is filled with ready-made ball striking elements, which can be made of different materials and sizes, depending on the various operational scenarios for which the customer will use the barrage munition. Inside is an explosive made in the form of cylinders, also defined as "explosive modules", the Mini warhead has a mass of 0.5 kg and is filled with two "modules", while the Small warhead, which weighs 1.5 kg, contains additional explosive modules. In the Small warhead, the number of damaging elements is increased according to the length of the cylinder. As can be understood, in the front of the cylinder, a large warhead is filled with a large number of striking elements compared to the Mini warhead, = probably with more layers to fully utilize the mass of 1.5 kg. The equipment used to create these "modules" ensures high production speed, while, as can be understood, it can be used to produce a large volume of these combat units intended for delivery to Ukraine.
The systems shown in the exercise were the first iteration of a family of barrage munitions tested in an appropriate environment. MBDA Italia is already planning future improvements, which may include the introduction of algorithms based on artificial intelligence (AI) and integration into new platforms. The improvements will lead to a gradual improvement of the entire weapon system, which will be more and more capable of operating in conditions of severe overload and saturation.
The company highlights a mental shift on the part of customers: the army now considers systems such as "cartridges" as consumables, which is combined with a different vision of the company, which puts simplicity of production and cost control at the top of the list of priorities.
The Small barrage munition is a completely new design developed by Sky Eyes Systems (SES); it is a portable system consisting of a control station, a pneumatic launcher, and a fixed-wing munition designed to operate in open spaces with a typical range of 10-15 km. All previous SES unmanned aerial vehicles are launched from a catapult, while this barrage munition is launched from a round tube equipped with a front bipod, which gives it an inclination of about 30°. The launch system dictated the design of the airframe, which obviously has aerodynamic surfaces folded along the fuselage. The fuselage has a square cross-section and a length of about 1 m, the ammunition has two rows of straight wings with a span of about 1 m; the first pair goes immediately behind the warhead, pivotally mounted on the upper part of the fuselage and folds back, while the second is pivotally mounted on the extreme rear part under the fuselage and folds forward. In the rear, we also see two vertical stabilizers that fold forward. Movement is provided by an electric motor mounted in the rear of the fuselage, which drives a two-bladed pusher propeller; when placed in the launch tube, the blades fold back.
The MBDA Italia Small barrage munition has a mass of less than 8 kg and a flight duration of about 30-40 minutes. In the front part there is a warhead, which is mounted horizontally, while the Small has a frontal attack profile, and the warhead itself is capable of hitting targets up to light armored vehicles.
On the front section containing the warhead, we see a GPS antenna on top, while an optoelectronic sensor mounted under the nose was missing on the model of the device. As you can see, the front section of the Small barrage munition can be easily removed, so the system is modular, which means it can carry a variety of payloads. Small is planned to be used at the platoon/company level.
The Mini barrage munition is a portable system consisting of a control station and a quadcopter munition, with a typical range of 1-5 km and a flight duration of about 30-40 minutes. It is mainly aimed at actions in urban areas, its configuration allows it to fly quickly in urban areas. MBDA Italia has teamed up with Siralab to develop it. The Mini device is a quadcopter with folding racks, similar to the SR-X series UAV from Siralab. Each rack carries an electric motor driving a two-bladed pusher screw. The take-off weight of the device is about 2 kg; since the Mini will work on the target, the warhead is therefore installed at the bottom and is designed to distribute its fragments in a cone with an undisclosed angle of impact. As you can see, the Mini should be used at the squad/platoon level.
Both types of ammunition - Mini and Small - are equipped with an optoelectronic kit, and after detecting a target, the operator must confirm its positive identification before the barrage ammunition begins the defeat phase, while the emergency termination system allows the attack to be interrupted until the very last moment.
These two MBDA Italia barrage munitions are currently at Mk 0 level. The roadmap for improving their performance seems to have already been adopted, although no time frame has been specified. Time will tell if this family will expand, with larger and longer-range systems, one of which, the Medium, is apparently already in development. After confirming the requirements of the Italian army, we are likely to see a spiral development of the two existing weapons, mainly through software updates, which will give birth to higher-performance versions of the Mk 1 and Mk 2, eventually providing the Italian armed forces with a dynamic family of barrage ammunition under full national control.
At the moment, we are not allowed to publish images of the Mini and combat units; we hope that we can add them to better describe the system, and we are also waiting for MBDA Italia to tell us the final name of the product, which is currently still being kept secret as it has not yet been registered.
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MBDA Italy Small (c) barrage ammunition model by Paolo Valpolini / www.edrmagazine.eu
MBDA Italy Small Barrage ammunition Launcher (c) Paolo Valpolini / www.edrmagazine.eu
