£1.6 Billion Support: UK Supplies 5000+ LMM Missiles and Technology Transfer for Ukraine
On March 2, the British government signed a “historic” deal to supply thousands of advanced air defense missiles from Thales UK in Belfast as part of its ongoing military assistance to Ukraine in countering Russia’s illegal aggression. The deal, built on the 100-Year Partnership framework recently formalized in Kyiv by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was announced in London during a European defense summit focused on establishing lasting peace in Ukraine.
According to information compiled from a post shared by Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov on his Facebook account and statements from the UK Ministry of Defence’s press release, the agreement, with an initial value of £1.6 billion and a potential additional workload of £500 million, covers the production of 5,000 Lightweight Multirole Missile (LMM), associated launch systems and command and control vehicles. The LMMs will be manufactured at Thales’ facility in Belfast. On the other hand, launchers and command and control vehicles will be produced in Ukraine through technology transfer to support Ukraine’s defense industry.
According to John Healey, the UK defense minister, the new support is a critical step for the future of Ukraine and Europe. “As today’s meeting has showed, the UK will continue to lead international efforts to support Ukraine in securing a ceasefire and durable peace. And we will not jeopardise the peace by forgetting about the war. This new support will help protect Ukraine against drone and missile attacks but it will also help deter further Russian aggression following any end to the fighting,” he stated.
The deal not only strengthens Ukraine’s air defenses and supports its war-torn local industry but also marks an economic revival for the UK. Funded by a loan from the UK Export Finance (UKEF) agency, this strategic investment will triple current LMM production at Thales’ Belfast site, creating 200 new jobs and safeguarding around 700 existing positions. It will also benefit a wide network of British suppliers in the supply chain.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated that the UK’s support for Ukraine is unwavering, saying:
“I am determined to find a way forward that brings an end to Russia’s illegal war and guarantees Ukraine a lasting peace based on sovereignty and security. I am also clear that national security is economic security. As well as levelling up Ukraine’s air defence, this loan will make working people here in the UK better off, boosting our economy and supporting jobs in Northern Ireland and beyond.”
The LMM, also known as the Martlet, is a multi-role missile designed by Thales Air Defence for the United Kingdom for air-to-surface, air-to-air, surface-to-air, and surface-to-surface roles. Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the UK has supplied hundreds of LMM missiles to Ukraine, and they have proven themselves against a wide range of enemy targets, particularly drones.
LMM missiles, which weigh 13 kg, have a diameter of 76 mm and a length of 1.3 meters. They are highly adaptable and can be deployed on various land, air, and sea platforms. Thanks to a two-stage solid-fuel rocket engine developed by Roxel UK, the missiles can reach a speed of Mach 1.5 and range up to 8 kilometers when launched from the air and up to 6 kilometers from land or sea. Depending on operational requirements, the missile can be equipped with a high-explosive fragmentation warhead or a tandem-charged warhead. The LMM’s guidance system also differs from version to version. Configuration A uses semi-active laser targeting, B and C use an infrared (IR) seeker, and D uses a GPS/INS guidance system.