UK orders $2 billion worth of air-defense missiles for Ukraine

PARIS — The U.K. placed an order worth as much as £1.6 billion ($2 billion) with Thales to supply more than 5,000 air defense missiles for Ukraine, the government said.

The Defence Equipment & Support department of the British Ministry of Defence placed the order for the Thales-made Lightweight Multirole Missile on behalf of the Ukrainian government, it said in a statement on Monday. The order follows an announcement by Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday following a meeting of European leaders in London to discuss support for Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been requesting more air defense for his country for months, as Russia targets Ukraine’s civilian population as well as its energy infrastructure with everything from suicide drones to ballistic missiles.

Continuing and increasing supply and support of Western air-defense systems is critical in the face of Russian plans to ramp up production of missiles and attack drones, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies

“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,” Defence Secretary John Healey said in a statement.

The missiles will be produced at Thales in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where the order will create 200 jobs and support 700 existing ones, the Ministry of Defence said. The order is the largest ever for Thales in Belfast, and the U.K.’s second-largest order with the company overall, according to the MoD.

The missiles will be funded by a loan underwritten by UK Export Finance, following a deal last year to allow Ukraine to draw on £3.5 billion of export financing to spend with British industry. The contract is worth an initial £1.16 billion, with potential for another £500 million of work added, according to the ministry.

The contract follows up on an initial £162 million order in September for 650 LMM missiles for Ukraine to ramp up production, with delivery starting in December. Ukraine has already used the missiles, and they’ve been “incredibly effective in protecting civilians and critical infrastructure from Russia’s bombardment,” the ministry said.

The new order will triple production of LMM missiles at the Thales factory in Belfast, and benefit companies in the supply chain across the U.K., according to the MoD.

The LMM is a lightweight missile with laser guidance, which Thales says allows for “ low collateral damage ,” meaning the missile is optimized for operation in urban environments. The missile weighs 13 kilograms, is equipped with a triple-effect warhead and a proximity fuse, travels at Mach 1.5 and has a range of more than 6 kilometers.

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

巴黎——英国政府表示，英国已向泰雷兹公司订购价值高达 16 亿英镑（20 亿美元）的 5000 多枚防空导弹，用于援助乌克兰。

英国国防部国防装备与保障部门周一发表声明称，该部门已代表乌克兰政府订购了泰雷兹公司生产的轻型多用途导弹。此前，英国首相基尔·斯塔默于周日在伦敦举行的欧洲领导人会议上宣布了这一消息，此次会议旨在讨论对乌克兰的支持。

几个月来，乌克兰总统泽连斯基一直要求加强对乌克兰的防空能力，因为俄罗斯使用从自杀式无人机到弹道导弹等各种手段，攻击乌克兰的平民和能源基础设施。

国际战略研究所指出，面对俄罗斯计划加大导弹和攻击型无人机的生产力度，继续并增加对西方防空系统的供应和支持至关重要。

“这项新的援助将有助于保护乌克兰免受无人机和导弹袭击，同时也有助于阻止俄罗斯在战斗结束后进一步的侵略，”国防大臣约翰·希利在一份声明中表示。

英国国防部表示，这些导弹将在北爱尔兰贝尔法斯特的泰雷兹公司生产，该订单将创造200个新的就业岗位，并支持现有的700个工作岗位。据英国国防部称，这是泰雷兹公司在贝尔法斯特获得的最大订单，也是英国向该公司获得的第二大订单。

这些导弹的资金将来自英国出口信贷局担保的贷款。此前，乌克兰去年与英国达成协议，允许乌克兰动用35亿英镑的出口融资，用于在英国企业进行消费。据英国国防部称，该合同初始价值11.6亿英镑，并有可能追加价值5亿英镑的订单。

这份合同是在9月份乌克兰获得价值1.62亿英镑的LMM导弹订单之后签订的，该订单旨在帮助乌克兰提高导弹产量，并于12月开始交付。乌克兰国防部表示，乌克兰已经使用了这些导弹，它们“在保护平民和关键基础设施免受俄罗斯轰炸方面非常有效”。

据英国国防部称，这项新订单将使泰雷兹贝尔法斯特工厂的LMM导弹产量增加两倍，并使英国供应链上的公司受益。

LMM是一款轻型激光制导导弹，泰雷兹公司称其可实现“低附带损伤”，这意味着该导弹针对城市环境进行了优化。该导弹重13公斤，配备三效战斗部和近炸引信，飞行速度为1.5马赫，射程超过6公里。

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。