Overview
- The Ministry of Defence announced Friday at the London Defence Conference that Skyhammer deliveries start in May with completion within six months, subject to final contract terms.
- Defence Secretary John Healey described a significant order and referred to hundreds of missiles and launchers for UK units and Gulf allies, though exact quantities and pricing were not disclosed.
- Skyhammer is a tube-launched, turbojet interceptor with an onboard X-band radar seeker, a blast-fragmentation warhead, a range of over 30 km, and a top speed of about 700 km/h to defeat Shahed-style drones and subsonic cruise missiles.
- Company representatives said each round is priced roughly in line with a Shahed-136 drone at about $20,000–$50,000, a claim that, if borne out, aims to fix the costly mismatch of shooting down cheap drones with high-price missiles.
- The MoD said the deal supports more than 175 UK jobs, including about 50 new roles, and the move comes as the wider Defence Investment Plan remains delayed.