Seen at the Royal International Air Tattoo earlier in July, a Royal Navy Wildcat helicopter carries 10 Martlet and two Sea Venom missiles on its weapons wings. (Janes/Gareth Jennings)
The UK's Minister for Defence Procurement and Industry, Maria Eagle, announced a GBP176 million (USD227 million) deal with Thales for “a significant number” of lightweight multirole missiles (LMMs) at the Farnborough International Airshow 2024, held from 22 to 26 July.
The missiles will equip the Royal Navy (RN) Fleet Air Arm's (FAA's) Leonardo AW159 Wildcat HMA2 maritime helicopters and the British Army's Stormer combat vehicles. Eagle added that the order would provide “our armed forces with versatile missiles that can be used against threats such as drones, helicopters, and small maritime targets”.
Eagle made the announcement alongside the CEO of the Ministry of Defence's (MoD's) procurement arm, Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S), Andy Start, who told Janes that the procurement aspires to use a portfolio management agreement (PMA), similar to a recent complex weapons partnership between the MoD and MBDA.
Start added that committing to such a model with Thales would be subject to finalising a wider government munitions strategy in order to strengthen UK stockpiles. However, he saw such an agreement as favourable in helping to ensure that future supply is ‘always on' without the need for long lead times to restart production lines.
Delivery was expected in 2027, Eagle said, adding 135 new jobs to the staff of 800 already employed at Thales UK in Belfast. “We must continue to provide weapons to Ukraine but also replenish our own stocks,” she said.
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