The Ministry of Defence has awarded a new £12 million contract aimed at accelerating development of a sovereign UK hypersonic missile capability, as part of wider efforts to field a long-range hypersonic strike demonstrator by the end of the decade.
The contract has been awarded to Warrington-based engineering contractor Amentum UK, supported by SME partners Ebeni and Synthetik, based in Wiltshire and London respectively. According to the MOD, the companies will provide engineering expertise to develop the design for a hypersonic system, which is expected to be demonstrated through flight testing before being adapted into prototype missiles capable of operating at the extreme speeds and temperatures required for hypersonic flight.
The announcement was made on 13 February 2026, with the MOD describing the investment as part of the delivery of conclusions from the Strategic Defence Review, which highlighted hypersonic missiles as increasingly central to modern warfighting and NATO deterrence.
Luke Pollard, Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry, said the contract reflected the need to move faster in developing cutting-edge military technology. “In this new era of threat, we need a new era for defence. This means moving quicker to develop and buy the cutting-edge technologies our Armed Forces need for modern warfighting.”
Pollard added that the award was intended to strengthen national security while supporting industrial growth. “This contract will accelerate the UK’s development of sovereign hypersonic missile capability, strengthen our national security and back British workers.”
The MOD said the contract was awarded only 31 days after the invitation to tender, presenting this as evidence of a shift toward faster procurement and reduced bureaucracy. The department said its Commercial X team was working to modernise acquisition processes and deliver innovation at pace.
Officials said the new deal builds on progress made since July 2024, when the hypersonics programme began awarding contracts through the Hypersonics Technologies & Capability Development Framework. Since then, 124 suppliers have reportedly been involved, with over half classed as small and medium enterprises, and 22 contracts issued across multiple technology areas.
The MOD stated the total estimated value of contracts awarded since July 2024 is now £48 million, with a “notable proportion” flowing to SMEs.
Let’s hope this one has legs and staying power.
When do ypu thinkl they come out with a statement that they will be seeking alternative options.
When do ypu thinkl they come out with a statement that they will be seeking alternative options..
Hypersonic development acceleration – 3 words which don’t equate with the MOD
Another example of the glacial momentmum from our lords and masters is slightly better news
Navy Lookout repoerts that the crew is moving aboard HMS Daring
Maybe they can get to sea this year Any bets?
The story of the lead ship of the class is truly appalling
Sorry guys not happy and to think one of my monikers was Sunny Jim being a John Smith
NL is quite emphatic: Daring will rejoin the RN fleet later this year. I suggest you take your sparks of hope where you can.
Forming crews for the Darings is actually quite a manpower stretch.
Realistically only there were only three crews and with the need to use all six of them at a reasonable intensity due to the premature, to plan but not to design, demise of the T23s. Generating a fully formed and staffed training pipeline that is more than double previous also sokes up people.
RN would not be crewing a ship if they did not think it was going to be going to sea shortly.
So I see more than a glimmer of hope there.
Wow a whole 12 million
Actually to SME’s that is a bucket load of money. It will be interesting to see how they get, if they are allowed to complete before either someone pulls the plug or a major contract swallows them…
Cheers CR
Except Amentum are actually a multinational engineering consultancy.
The SMEs might be genuine and the money might all be going to them, but why not cut out the middleman?
Well at least a hypersonic missile will actually move at pace….assuming it gets beyond a PowerPoint DIP missile.
Hah, ‘move at pace’. I see what you did there.
Interesting Companies House entry.
I would hardly consider this to be an example of a improved procurement process. The problem isn’t with the crumbs that fall off the table, it’s with the big stuff. Like Tanks, IFV’s and ARTILLERY!
OT, But I was just reading that India has cleared a proposal to buy 114 Rafale jets, which would give them around 150 Rafale jets, about 250 Sukhoi Su‑30MKI, around 50 HAL Tejas(lots more on order), plus some older jets of various types. They are also developing their own next generation fighter and UCAV. Still behind the technological curve, of course, but India is one to watch going forward. Great news for 🇫🇷
Another OT, the German Chancellor said today that there are “confidential talks” ongoing with Macron on creating a joint European nuclear deterrent… 👀
Vague talks that don’t amount to much with an outgoing president. Plus this is not new since these talks have been ongoing for a while.
There have also been discussions between France and various euro countries, like Sweden and Poland, about possible nuclear sharing agreements. But this would be nothing more than what the US is already doing. ie French Rafale with ASMP stationned in Poland, etc.. but final say will always be with fhe french president. Considering Germany already hosts US bombs, it remains to be seen if they hedge their bets with a second layer of a similar agreement. However some in Germany are delusional, like AKK who wanted France to give up its UN permament seat and its nuclear weapons to Europe (ofc controlled by Germany with the largest say).
From a french perspective, one thing is sure there won’t be any european JOINT nuclear deterrent involving France. Fairly sure there would be a bloody revolution if any french politician would even consider giving Germany nuclear weapons or technology to build them. France will always have final say when it comes to its nuclear weapons – non negotiable.
Let me see how that goes?
Looking up the FCAS renegotiations template…..paper rustling….I see….
‘The French will operate it using French technologique and the Germans will pay for it.’
Hope that has clarified the matter.
PS rinse and repeat for PANG project
why would France give up its technological edge for a few billion to a rival?
did the UK give Germany unlimited access to the Typhoon fly by wire? absolutely not and it’s quite normal not to give the secret sauce that has taken years of R&D to develop.
Yet that is exactly what Germany was asking France for the SCAF. From the beginning it was always agreed that Dassault was the lead architect on the fighter design, and that it would assign work based on an even split of workshare. ie we have a puzzle where each party makes its own pieces based on workshare and ability and then these pieces are assembled .. but then Airbus DS in Mancing demanded to have access to Dassault’s proprietary work on fly by wire etc… to which Dassault said go take a walk. Germany just takes France for idiots and thinks it can write a check and syphon years of trade secrets in avionics, jet engines, etc.., because we know how that story goes, get your claws in then reduce orders and walk away with the crown jewels to fund your own aerospace agency for a fraction of the price and years to develop.
To conclude, negotiations with Germany has been “what is mine is mine, what is yours is negotiable”
Cannot wait for 2027 election when Macron is out, and France can scrap this nonesense once and for all, as well as MGCS (where Germany shoehorned Rheinmetall after the project was agreed which was a spanner in the works for all the progress made by KNDS) or that failure of Eurodrone led by Airbus DS which still hasn’t made its maiden flight!
Anyway you should be happy, Germany is going to join GCAP. best of luck.
I agree that Germany doesn’t have much military related aerospace tech and most of what they have was ‘gifted’ during Typhoon by….UK.
I have zero wish for Germany to join GCAP – it would be a replay of Typhoon and what France has just been through.
The problem we have is that Starmer is a europhile at heart who doesn’t get how the game is played.
I seriously doubt the UK was dumb enough to gift anything to Germany on Typhoon. The fly be wire is UK IP and so are the engines, UK has around 40% of Typhoon worshare, ie the critical parts.
That is why Airbus DS tried to get its grubby hands on Dassaut’s avionics because it is struggling to even develop a simple propellor drone like Eurodrone which hardly pulls any Gs, let alone rolls or loops. Because Airbus DS is not Airbus civilian, and it does not have access to even the civilian airliners avionics since that is all designed by Airbus in Toulouse, France, in return Germany got the Airbus A321 assembly line in Germany.
While I generalize about Germany, I will put a caveat that problems arise with the big groups like Rheinmetall, TKMS and Airbus not so much of a problem with smaller companies like KMW, Hensoldt, Diehl, MTU etc… the big companies have influential lobbies within the german government (not to mention the trade unions)
For instance on SCAF there was no problem with other partners outside Airbus (who felt with intro of Spain that they should get the controlling say with 2 against 1). for example on engines while Safran can 100% the whole engine (hot and cold parts) they agreed that MTU would design and prodcue the cold parts while Safran did the hot parts.
But seeing how things have soured I doubt France will now accept any MTU involvement on a an engine for a french gen 6, since there is no way France is going to be blackmailed by german export bans.
I believe partnership and joint ventures make sense when each party has specific expertise to bring to the party, but in this case Germany has nothing it brings to the table that France doenst already do better, so bye bye rest of the pillars like drones, sensors, stealth, cloud
etc..
Luckily french industrial base has already anticipated this split and been working on evolutions and upgrades which willl be critical tech stepstones for a solo Gen6 fighter ie Thales and Dassault have an agreement to develop a cloud, Thales is developping the RBE2 XG radar and enhanced EW for Rafale F5, Dassault on a loyal wingman based on Neuron, Safran on the T-Rex M-88 engine.
What’s odd is that Amentum’s current UK footprint is mostly around engineering support for nuclear reactors and regulation. What I can find of their hypersonic expertise is based in the US.
So either they are starting a new team in the UK for hypersonics or we have just given a contract to what is really an American company.
Stuck on the American tit as always.
This is all fine to have high-end expensive procurement programmes, but the British Armed Forces need to grow significantly and they need low cost tech in vast quantity with supply chains that can deliver quickly and adapt and innovate very quickly.
Quite frankly the army should have bigger orders for Boxer in numerous variants, a hundred or so new wheeled MLRS to complement the tracked MLRS, scrap AJAX, buy CV90 and move towards production line in UK, big buys of MOWAG Eagle V or similar, fast track new small arms, ramp up ammo production and expand existing storage. And to increase disperal of personnel, equipment and ammo across existing and a few new sites.
I know that much will be open source, but should we be advertising company names and locations ?
Not just the fact Ru agents wandered into Salisbury with nerve agents but we now have the pro pal mob willing to enter and damage property with any slight whiff of a connection , even if that connection isn’t there.
It’s sensitive technology, we are open to Chinese and other spying.
Not to mention Palestine Action, who a judge has ruled to be criminals and terrorists, but not terrorist enough to ban.
‘demonstrated through flight testing’ do we get £ back if this does not hit a moving target or cannot maneuver at hypersonic speed???
“accelerating”… with £12million. WOW.
Indeed mate, what a load of bollocks….
🚀🤔