The UK is to invest in £300 million over the next 10 years to enhance operational communications, renew the existing air defence system and upgrade infrastructure on the Falkland Islands.

Britain had already ordered additional Giraffe AMB radars to bolster the ground based air defenses on the Falkland Islands, the Swedish company SAAB announced earlier in the year that it had received an order from the UK MoD for the supply of new radars and the upgrade of existing systems.

The MoD has also selected missile maker MBDA’s CAMM(L) to replace aging Rapier weapons on the islands as part of the upgrade.

CAMM(L) is the land-based variant of the CAMM missile family and will replace the Rapier missile batteries of the British Army from 2020 or so. Four three-pack launchers are fitted to a self-contained “pallet” that can be fitted to a range of vehicles. The launch vehicle will not have its own radar, instead taking targeting information over a secure datalink as part of an integrated air-defence network and using the active seeker head for terminal guidance. Some reports have called the land variant, “Land Ceptor” similar to the naval “Sea Ceptor”.

The relevant section of the Strategic Defence and Security Review states:

“We will continue to work closely with the Falkland Islanders to defend their right to selfdetermination, which is enshrined in the Charter of the UN. They face an unjustified claim of ownership from Argentina. We judge the risk of a military attack to be low, but we will retain a deterrence posture, with sufficient military forces in the region, including Royal Navy warships, Army units and RAF Typhoon aircraft. We will invest up to £300 million over the next 10 years to enhance operational communications, renew the existing air defence system and upgrade infrastructure.”

The system is currently in a £228 million development phase at MBDA.

George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison

59 COMMENTS

  1. This was actually pre announced some months ago… and no we are not rearming that’s nonsense. A lot of that 300M is being g spent on rebuilding the 3 radar sites and the MPC – all of which are now 30 years old – all were built with a 25 year life so it’s getting urgent now to sort it all out.

    • The threat is low, but let’s not make the same mistakes we made in the past huh? This sum is to be spent over the next 10 years so its not a huge amount to pay really (and if oil does start to be pumped from there it will be paid for easily)

    • Agreed Russ. Plus, if oil does start to be produced in the region, then Argentina won’t be the only threat! It is very likely we will require an enduring presence, for purely central UK (‘selfish’) reasons, quite apart from our (quite right) committed obligation to defence our overseas territory.

    • Our so called friend Obama is keen our strengthening the relationship between USA and Latin America (he likes to use the name Malvinas), perhaps refurbed ex-USAF F16s may find their way to Argentina along with ex-USN warships.

  2. If the sad passing of Baroness Thatcher was to improve Anglo-Argentine relations, i think we’d have detected a noticable improvement by now given how long she has been gone. I’ve always thought Argentina should be grateful to Britain. We helped them attain their independence in 1825 from Spain. Throughout the following century, British capital investment built the county’s infrastructure and industrial base. A bit of gratitude would be nice instead of animosity!

  3. well i think it will pay for itself over the years as the falklands do pay tax to the uk,so it,s only fair to support them…

  4. There should be no reason to plow money into the islands defences, but history can not be forgotten and we were not the aggressor in that war. We have a moral duty to protect the islands until such a time we resolve things peacefully with Argentina. From what I have seen there is no real desire by either party to achieve that currently.

    Saying that, if the oil starts flowing as expected, the cost will be a drop in the ocean compared to the amount of tax revenue they generate. The Scotland independent vote centred around the oil revenue and that was to pay for a population in the millions, currently they pretty much blackmail England into putting a lot of military resources in Scotland. Counter that with it being believed that there is more oil below the Falkland’s than the English channel has, and suddenly its a bargain. If a reasonable share of that income flows back to the UK, it will pay for a lot of schools/police/etc in the future.

  5. “Land Ceptor”? Might be on the official paperwork, but I can’t imagine the troops actually using it would avoid a somewhat more dromedary nickname for CAMM(L)s

  6. Hi, people who lives in the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas to us). I’m from Argentina and I want to tell you something:
    Yes, we claim for the islands, because they’re in our own sea. But in my opinion, we shouldn’t do anything about it because you’re living there, and you want to live there, and you are british citizens.
    In 1982, we were under the worst dictatorship of all times. Things weren’t goint great. To contain the strong popular discontent with the political and economic situation, our president back then (a drunk son of a bitch) tried to divert tensions by military recovering the Islands. Please know that we ALL think that was terrible wrong, because you weren’t the only who suffered it: We didn’t had the army, so the government took 18-yo boys from their homes who never grabbed a gun before and send them to fight. In the islands, argentine “soldiers” have been tortured in horrible ways by their superiors. Back in Argentina, people donate food everyday for the argentine boys in the islands, but the food never arrived to them.
    The war was a very wrong desition from president Galtieri (son of a bitch!). Because of him over 600 young boys died in the Islands.
    We will keep claiming the islands, but we DON’T want a fight, we DON’T want a war with you. We’re all people. I want us to get along together.
    Best regards to all of you.
    Agustin Marinangeli (Male, 21 years old, from Córdoba, Argentina)

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here