MoD awards MBDA £411m missile development contract
The UK Ministry of Defence has awarded a £411 million contract to MBDA to develop a new missile for the UK's future F-35B supersonic stealth aircraft.
Above:
Development of Spear 3 over the next four years will tailor the weapon for use within the internal weapons bay of the F-35B.
© MBDA
The contract for the Weapon Development Phase of the Spear air to surface, precision strike missile will further advance MBDA’s Spear weapon design and builds on a successful series of technical milestones during the preceding Assessment Phase. The contract will run through to completion during 2020 and will employ 350 highly skilled missile engineering jobs across MBDA’s sites in Stevenage, Bristol and Lostock, with an equivalent number of jobs in the wider supply chain and will draw on engineering and manufacturing expertise from companies across the UK.
The Spear missile is being developed to meet the UK’s Selective Precision Effects At Range Capability 3 (Spear 3) requirement for the UK’s F-35 aircraft, with the option to equip the Typhoon aircraft.
Spear will precisely engage long range, mobile, fleeting and re-locatable targets in all weathers, day or night, in the presence of countermeasures, obscurants and camouflage, whilst ensuring a safe stand-off range between the aircrew and threat air defences. Spear 3 is from the Brimstone family of weapons, currently being used by the RAF to combat Daesh in Syria and Iraq, yet has a significantly increased range and destructive capability.
The contract, with MBDA, will enable four years of critical design and development work which will tailor the weapon for use within the internal weapons bay of F-35B.
It is being designed specifically for F-35B Lightning II operations launched from HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, the Royal Navy’s two £3 billion aircraft carriers.
Defence Minister Philip Dunne, said: "This contract will give UK pilots a state-of-the-art British designed weapon to be used on board our next-generation F-35B jets, with the precision and punch that we need to give decisive operational advantage over our adversaries and keep Britain safe.
"This investment is good news not only for our pilots, but also for UK industry, safeguarding 350 highly skilled missile engineering jobs across MBDA’s sites in Stevenage, Bristol and Lostock, and an equivalent number of jobs in the wider supply chain. It has been made possible by this Government’s £178 billion commitment to the very best equipment for our Armed Forces and by our growing Defence budget."
Spear 3 uses an innovative turbojet engine rather than a tradition rocket motor, giving it a range of more than 60 miles. It was successfully test fired from an MoD Typhoon in March at a range in West Wales.
The £411 million contract award follows an initial £150 million assessment phase and, if successful, it is expected that Spear 3 will enter service in the mid-2020s.
Welcoming the contract, MBDA’s Executive Group Technical Director and UK Managing Director Dave Armstrong said: “Delivering the solution for the UK’s Spear 3 requirement is an important programme for MBDA, and for the future operators of the F-35 in both the RAF and the Fleet Air Arm. The contract confirms SpearR as the only weapon to meet the UK’s operational requirements.
"It delivers a UK sovereign capability on the F-35 that will bring the kind of precision against moving targets previously seen with Brimstone but at stand-off ranges that give the aircrew numerous advantages in terms of operational flexibility and survivability.”
MBDA’s CEO Antoine Bouvier added: “MBDA’s selection to provide Spear confirms the company’s position as the European leader in complex weapons and importantly positions MBDA in the international arena for the next decade with this unique precision strike capability.”