The U.K. Ministry of Defence has awarded MBDA a three-year contract worth approximately $159 million to supply six Land Ceptor air defense missile launchers.
The ministry said Friday that the Land Ceptors will be integrated into the ground-based British Sky Sabre systems designed to counter aircraft, cruise missiles and drones. It noted that London wants to double the number of Sky Sabres that the British Armed Forces can deploy to reinforce national defense.
Protection From Aerial Threats
Land Ceptor is a medium-range air defense system with three major elements: radar, command and control, and missile launcher. It is designed to hit tennis ball-sized targets accurately while travelling at double the speed of sound.
The system’s design also allows users to control the flight of 24 missiles to intercept separate targets simultaneously.
Defense Industry Jobs
According to the MOD, the Land Ceptor procurement will support up to 140 U.K. jobs, including at MBDA’s manufacturing site in Bolton, Lancashire. It noted that U.K. defense programs already support 1,300 jobs at the facility, plus 5,000 more at other MBDA locations.
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Strategic Partnerships for Growth
On Thursday, the company said it plans to invest up to $270 million in doubling the site’s manufacturing capacity. It says it projects the expansion to create 700 new jobs by 2030.
“Building these weapon systems has been a key part of our growth at our Bolton site, and this contract helps us to sustain this expansion going forward,” said Chris Allam, managing director of MBDA UK.
The executive said the Land Ceptor contract also strengthens the company’s strategic partnership with the Ministry of Defence and its supply chain partners. “Just as importantly, it will give the Army the decisive military capability and increased scale needed in air defense,” he added.