To cope with the increased threat posed by missiles and anti-tank rockets to their armor, several armed forces, including those of Israel and Russia, undertook in the 80s and 90s to develop anti-tank systems. 'active self-protection intended not to lure the missile, but to intercept it before it strikes its fable. The first of these systems to enter service was the Soviet Drozd which, in the early 80s, was deployed on 250 T-55A Soviet Marine Infantry. These systems, like the Israeli Trophy or the Russian Afghanit, are referred to by the term Hard-Kill. However, the increase in performance and the proliferation of anti-aircraft systems such as air-to-air systems pose a similar threat to combat aircraft. This is why, in 2015, the US Air Force gave Raytheon a budget of $ 15 million to study the feasibility of a light micro-missile intended to intercept not aircraft, but missiles.
On July 21, 2020, at the end of a relatively confidential competition between two industrialists (probably Lockheed-Martin and Raytheon), the Raytheon missile was chosen by the Pentagon as the winner for cview and provide a micro-missile ready for use by 2023, to ensure this hard-kill type function for American combat aircraft, the Miniature Self-Defense Munition or MSDM. For this, the American firm was allocated an initial envelope of $ 93 million, included in a global order of $ 375 million.
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