Brazil set to finalise MTC-300 cruise missile development

Avibras Indústria Aeroespacial is scheduled to complete development of the Míssil Tático de Cruzeiro (MTC-300) surface-launched tactical long-range cruise missile for the Brazilian Army in December 2020, General José Júlio Dias Barreto, project manager of the ASTROS (Artillery Saturation Rocket System) 2020 programme, has confirmed to Jane’s .

A production batch of the missile – commercially designated AV-MTC – is scheduled to be acquired in 2021, Gen Barreto added.

Avibras is developing the MTC-300 missile in co-operation with the Army Technological Centre under a 2012 contract awarded by the Manufacturing Directorate of Brazilian Army’s Department of Science and Technology. An acquisition contract was placed in 2016. MTC-300 is being developed as part of the Army Procurement Office’s ASTROS 2020 project, which also provides for the acquisition of new multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRSs) and simulators and the creation of new artillery units in the Brazilian Army.

The missile will equip the Brazilian Army’s ASTROS II MK3M and MK6 propelled MLRSs, which are mounted on the Avibras 6×6 AV-LMU platform. The AV-LMU vehicle can mount two missile containers, each armed with one MTC-300 missile.

The exact specifications of MTC-300, as well as information on system subcontractors, remain largely unknown. However, Jane’s understands that the missile weighs approximately 1,100 kg, is 450 mm in diameter, 5.430 mm in length, has a cruise speed of 1,044 km/h, a range in excess of 300 km, and circular error of probability (CEP) of 30 m. Since development was initiated in 2012, the missile design has evolved, with the mid-body fixed-wing assembly replaced with fold-out wings, although the two sets of aft-positioned cruciform tail surfaces are retained.