Britain is rapidly restocking its $50,000 Martlet counter-drone missiles and clearing the way for rapid export to Middle East allies, the UK Ministry of Defence has announced.
The senior UK armament official was now “working to speed up financing and licensing for exports to Gulf partners”, the ministry said.
The Martlet is designed to intercept drones, helicopters and fast boats, all at the relatively low cost of $50,000 per missile.
Gulf ambassadors
A new cross-government task force has also been created with UK defence companies to “explore new industry support for regional allies” it added. Its remit is to collaborate across government so that support flows to partners across the Middle East working with UK industry.
The UK also announced the ramping up of the manufacture of its Martlet Lightweight Multirole Missiles, made by Thales in Belfast, which it said had already proven “highly capable” for air defence against Iran's attacks in the Middle East.
Launched from helicopters or ground vehicles, it uses laser beam-riding guidance for high precision against manoeuvring targets. The missile travels at about Mach 1.5 (1,850kmh), has a range of around 8km and carries a 3kg multipurpose warhead.
The Martlet is used by the Royal Navy Wildcat aircraft sent to Cyprus in early March to further protect against drones fired from Lebanon and potentially Iraq. There is a possibility that the helicopters could be deployed closer to the Gulf. The ministry also said it would give training in the UK “where needed” on how to use the missiles.
The announcement came as the UK’s defence chiefs invited Gulf diplomats to the MOD on Wednesday where they met with 13 defence companies to discuss how they could help to combat Iran’s continued missile and drone attacks on the region.
The meeting was also attended by Defence Secretary John Healey and Middle East minister Hamish Falconer. The discussion focused on potential new defensive equipment and technology that the British companies could supply at rapid pace to counter Iranian drone and missile attacks.
“Iran's indiscriminate attacks are a threat to Britain, our allies and our partners in the region,” said Mr Healey. “That's why our dedicated armed forces are taking defensive action in the Middle East." He added that the UK military and industry were “stepping up together - just as we are for Ukraine - to offer rapid support to our Gulf partners”.
The ambassadors and defence attachés came from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Iraq and Jordan. The defence firms included BAE Systems, QinetiQ and Cambridge Aerospace, a UK drone interceptor start-up developing cheaper air defence systems that is in $1 billion funding talks.
“This is just the start,” the MOD said. “We will seek further opportunities to build on today’s event by continuing to work closely with industry partners and Gulf states.”
