Britain expands air defences as Europe wakes up to missile gap
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An MBDA Brimstone training weapon in an MBDA missile factory in Stevenage, Britain.
PHOTO: AFP
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LONDON - The United Kingdom is bolstering its air defence capabilities with a new contract for missile systems, as European military planners work to map out a post-peace plan for Ukraine that could see its skies protected by Western allies.
In a deal worth £118 million ($204 million), the British government will buy six new Land Ceptor systems from multinational European arms maker MBDA over three years, the Ministry of Defence said on Aug 21 in a statement.
They comprise so-called anti-air modular missiles capable of hitting a tennis-ball sized object travelling at twice the speed of sound, as well as launchers and support vehicles.
The new contract comes as European and US defence chiefs meet to discuss what security guarantees they can offer Ukraine if a peace deal is reached with its Russian invaders.
Air defence is seen as a key component under the Coalition of the Willing, a group of nations led by Britain and France that are prepared to station troops and military systems away from the front line in Ukraine under a deal they hope would combine with a US backstop contributing intelligence sharing, border surveillance, weaponry and possibly air defence.
While US President Donald Trump has ruled out putting US troops into Ukraine, he told Fox News earlier this week that he is open to discussing deploying US air defence systems, which can counter advanced threats such as long-range ballistic missiles. “There’s nobody that has the kind of stuff we have,” Mr Trump said.
The new missiles for the British Army will form part of the UK’s Sky Sabre defence system, which was deployed on Nato’s eastern flank in south-east Poland from 2022 to 2024 to help facilitate the delivery of military equipment to Ukraine and ensure the safe movement of Ukrainian recruits in training.
It is used to counter various aerial threats, including fighter aircraft, drones and cruise missiles, and can be deployed anywhere in the world. Britain’s Defence Ministry said the system can simultaneously guide 24 missiles to intercept separate targets.
“Doubling our deployable Sky Sabre capability will strengthen the UK’s air defences, protect UK forces abroad, and deter our adversaries,” Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard said in the statement. Bloomberg
