In 2001 ATIB was included in the Multinational Program (US, GE, IT) called MEADS (Medium Extended Air Defense System) as a builder of Launcher and Reloader. The development of military projects is conducted in a special ATIB Technical Office, equipped with all the necessary security measures. In these years ATIB has gained significant experience with regard to usable materials (steels, aluminium alloys, titanium alloys, composite materials), construction techniques, complete compliance with customer requirements, production technologies, compliance with the most stringent environmental specifications, also coming in this case, to design and manufacture all the structural, hydraulic, electrical and electronic parts that are present on the MEADS Program Launchers, sharing all the technical information with the customer and then acting in parallel engineering.
In June 2003, the very first prototype of launcher was presented.
ATIB operated under the MEADS contract under government supervision operated by DGAT (Direzione Generale Armamenti Terrestri – Directorate General for Terrestrial Armaments) through the GQAR (Government Quality Assurance Representative).
At the heart of the FLAADS Land system is MBDA’s Common Anti-air Modular Missile (CAMM) and its weapon command and control system, contracted for installation onto the Royal Navy’s (RN) Type 23 Frigates as Sea Ceptor. This approach leverages the existing investment to deliver the UK MOD with an affordable but highly capable air defence system for both the Army and Royal Navy, with a shared support and future upgrade path across both services.