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ST Engineering iDirect’s Belgian plant selected for NATO program
ST Engineering iDirect says its European Manufacturing Competence Centre (MCC) in Erpe-Mere, Belgium, has been selected by Raytheon, a RTX-business, to support the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile Block II program.
The facility will contribute manufacturing capabilities to the NATO Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) program, one of the alliance’s long-running cooperative naval defence initiatives.
According to a press release, the MCC was selected due to its experience in handling high-complexity, high-mix production for the defence sector. The site is certified to AS/EN 9100 standards for aviation, space and defence manufacturing and supports programs requiring strict quality and traceability requirements.
The ESSM program has been operational since 1968 and is designed to provide naval air defence capabilities for NATO and allied navies.
Company representatives said the selection strengthens the role of the Belgian manufacturing site within European defence supply chains. The collaboration with Raytheon is expected to contribute to production for the ESSM Block II system.
The Manufacturing Competence Centre in Erpe-Mere has previously been recognised multiple times as a “Factory of the Future” and integrates advanced testing, traceability and supply-chain management systems for electronics manufacturing in defence applications.
