New UK minister for defence procurement Maria Eagle announced a major order for Thales’s lightweight multirole missile (LMM) at the Farnborough air show on 24 July, while also describing the scope of the nation’s pending Strategic Defence Review (SDR).
Operated by the Royal Navy’s shipborne Leonardo Helicopters Wildcats as the Martlet, the LMM is also suitable for use as a short-range air defence system by land forces, where it can to engage threats including unmanned air vehicles and helicopters.
The weapon also is among equipment to previously have been gifted to Ukraine by the UK Ministry (MoD), with “hundreds of missiles” transferred.
Worth £176 million ($227 million), the new deal covers an undisclosed number of weapons to be delivered from 2027, Eagle says. It follows a £69 million contract also placed with Thales earlier this year “to secure the supply chain for key components”.
“It is a significant order that will help Thales, and assist our armed forces in having the inventory they need,” Eagle says.
“The UK’s commitment to continue to invest in the missile and to maintain production is part of that learnt lesson of excellent operational experience,” says Andy Start, chief executive of the MoD’s Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) organisation. “And it is part of our wider munitions strategy, where we are strengthening the UK’s stockpiles, at the same time as helping the position for our allies.”
Meanwhile, Eagle describes the SDR activity as to be a “root and branch look at everything that the [previous] government was committed to, to assess our programmes and future plans against the threats that we face, which have been changing over time”.
“We are looking at everything, but we will be realising the value of everything as well,” she says. “That process will report as soon as possible in the first half of next year.”
Also referring to the SDR, Start notes: “That doesn’t stop us cracking on with all the programmes that are currently under contract.”
As an example, the Boeing E-7 Wedgetail acquisition for the Royal Air Force “is progressing nicely”, he tells FlightGlobal. “I am expecting to see the first flight of the first aircraft soon, and the other two are well progressed through build.”
