The UK government has delivered hundreds of air defense missiles to Ukraine, five months ahead of schedule.
The delivery is part of a 1.6-billion-pound ($2.13 billion) deal signed earlier this year between the UK and Ukraine to purchase more than 5,000 air defense missiles manufactured by Thales at its Belfast facility.
Known as Lightweight Multirole Missiles (LMMs), the weapons have been actively deployed against Russian forces since the onset of the war in 2022.
Beyond bolstering Ukraine’s defenses, the program is also supporting domestic industry — creating 200 new jobs and sustaining around 700 existing positions across the UK.
“The UK is stepping up our ironclad commitment to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s illegal invasion,” UK Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard said.
“This year alone we are spending 4.5 billion pounds ($6 billion) on military support for Ukraine, more than ever before.”
Lightweight Multirole Missile
The laser-guided missile boasts a range of over 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) and can reach speeds of Mach 1.5 (1,152 miles/1,852 kilometers per hour).
It can be launched from land, sea, and air platforms and is effective against a wide range of targets, including installations, armored personnel carriers, fast inshore attack craft, and drones.
Since the start of the war, hundreds of LMMs have been delivered to Ukraine, destroying hundreds of Russian drones and other aerial threats, according to the UK government.
In parallel, the UK and Ukraine have initiated the LYRA program, aimed at jointly advancing battlefield technologies such as air defense interceptor drones.
Under Project OCTOPUS, thousands of these interceptor drones are planned to be mass-produced each month for Ukraine.
