Overview
- Britain launched a competition to develop mobile ballistic rockets exceeding 500 kilometers in range and carrying 200 kilograms of high-explosive conventional warheads, tailored for Ukrainian use.
- The Ministry of Defence plans to issue three development contracts worth £9 million each in March, with prototype deliveries from all teams due within 12 months for testing.
- Nightfall systems are specified to fire multiple rockets in quick succession from varied vehicles and withdraw within minutes, with a planned output of about ten systems per month and a unit cost cap near £800,000–£900,000.
- UK officials frame the effort as a direct answer to Russia’s recent Oreschnik strike on Ukrainian infrastructure, as US and British diplomats warn that the missile’s deployment risks dangerous escalation.
- Overnight Tuesday, Russia launched a major barrage using 25 rockets and 293 drones that killed at least four people in Kharkiv, damaged energy facilities including a DTEK plant, and knocked out power for hundreds of thousands near Kyiv, with strikes also reported in Odesa.