July 22, 2009:
Poland has hired French firm MDBA to supply Aster and Mica surface to air missiles, and integrate them with Polish radars and control systems. This will replace Poland's Russian systems from the Cold War era. The Aster 30 is a 15 foot long, 979 pound, two stage missile that can hit targets as high as 66,000 feet and 100 kilometers away. The Mica is a ground-to-air version of a air-to-air missile. In ground mode, it has a range of 20 kilometers. MDBA beat out American manufacturers who were offering the Patriot system (similar to the Aster 30. The Mica is similar to the U.S. AMRAAM, which is also available in a ground-to-air version.