Franceinfo identified the man as Regis Claude Albert Normand and reported that he remains in custody on suspicion of illegal arms trafficking. Officers also recovered a command launch unit and missile transport containers from the vehicle.
Normand told investigators that he had transported the equipment on behalf of its manufacturer and planned to return it after repairs. The maintenance work had reportedly been carried out by Greek company Altus LSA.
Italian authorities said the documents in Normand’s possession contained inconsistencies, according to the report. No further information was provided about the nature of those discrepancies.
Akeron MP, previously designated MMP, is a fifth-generation anti-tank guided missile developed and manufactured by MBDA. The missile is 1.3 meters long, has a diameter of 140 millimeters and weighs 11 kilograms, or 15 kilograms inside its transport and launch container.
Its cruising speed is 160 meters per second and rises to 230 meters per second during the attack phase. MBDA states that the weapon has a range of more than 4,000 meters, while other estimates place the maximum at about 5,000 meters.
The missile carries a 115-millimeter tandem shaped-charge warhead designed to defeat explosive reactive armor and penetrate more than 1,000 millimeters of rolled homogeneous armor behind it. MBDA also says Akeron MP can overcome active protection systems, although the company has not disclosed how that capability works.
A dual-band electro-optical seeker combines an uncooled thermal imager with a television camera for day-and-night operations. The missile supports fire-and-forget, fire-observe-and-update, and fire-locate-and-guide modes.
A two-way fiber-optic data link allows the operator to retain control and update guidance after launch. Akeron MP can engage armored targets using either a top-attack profile or a low flight path.
