Overview

• The Ministry of Defence signed a three-year, £118 million contract with MBDA to deliver six Land Ceptor launchers for the British Army.
• Officials say the purchase will double the Army’s deployable Sky Sabre capability, enhancing the UK’s ground-based air defence coverage.
• Manufacturing work, including at MBDA’s Bolton site, is expected to support up to 140 jobs across the UK.
• Sky Sabre counters aircraft, cruise missiles and drones, can guide up to 24 missiles simultaneously, and is described by officials as accurate enough to hit a tennis-ball-sized target at twice the speed of sound.
• The announcement follows the system’s first live firing on UK soil during NATO’s Formidable Shield in the Outer Hebrides and aligns with SDR plans that include up to £1 billion for homeland air and missile defence, alongside prior deployments in Poland.