The UK is to supply 650 Lightweight Multirole Missiles (LMM) through £162 million contract to boost Ukraine’s air defences, say the UK Government.
According to an announcement, the air defence package will be announced by Defence Secretary John Healey MP today at the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (UDCG) meeting at US Air Force Base in Ramstein – his first as Defence Secretary.
“At the 24th meeting of the group, the Defence Secretary will set out the UK’s ironclad commitment to Ukraine and urge allies to continue to supply Ukraine with vital equipment.
It comes following a bilateral meeting between John Healey and his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerov in London earlier this week, where the pair discussed how the UK will continue to ramp-up support over the coming months. At that meeting, the Defence Secretary confirmed that £300 million worth of artillery ammunition will start to be delivered by the end of this year to support Ukraine’s war effort.
In keeping with the new government’s commitment to speed up deliveries of aid, the first batch of LMM missiles announced today are also expected to be delivered by the end of this year.”
It is understood that today’s package is part of the UK’s work to help step up UK and European defence production – with today’s £162 million order helping to energise the supply chain for the future.
“Built by Thales at their Belfast factory, the missiles are highly versatile and can be fired from a variety of platforms on land, sea, and air.
The package is primarily funded through the UK’s £3 billion a year financial package for Ukraine, and contributions from Norway through the International Fund for Ukraine (IFU) and follows the Prime Minister and Defence Secretary’s commitment to stand by Ukraine will continue for as long as it takes.”
Good👍 What’s the betting the next question he gets asked is why is the UK cutting its defence budget when the rest of NATO is spending more?
The uk is raising its defence budget, only the USA is planning cuts to budgets.
Really🤔funny enough I’ve just listened to BFBS sitrep and the estimate expected for CUTS is £5b. Any program that has not really got going yet is fair game.
Land wise, that podcast MLRS upgrades/numbers might be the target.
Yes mate and air defence as well!
Which is odd, considering they’ve just ordered a load of LMM and 12 VAMTAC Rapidrangers.
The budgets rising though, even a rising budget sees cuts based on forward assumptions etc and there is a committed aspiration from both parties to raise to 2.5% of GDP.
Congress in the US has literally mandated cuts although the US is coming off a high level of spending.
Labour Defence Secretary has said there will be cuts in defense . So I think the 2.5 % Commitment is completely dead . Unless a statute law goes through parliament committing any govt by law to spend towards 2.5 percent , then there is zero chance . Anything we hear from government will be smoke and mirrors to deceive the public . Its very dissapointing but defence spending really should be ring fenced like nhs spending.
Cuts in projects jot money. The Conservatives simply hadn’t funded the projects they committed to. As usual over the lastb14 years all spin and no substance.
The word Clowns spring’s to mind 👍
Can’t fund our own armed forces, short of kit and ammo, crap retention. Now got to find the £400 million for the pay rise from savings, yet we fund Ukraine with new top spec kit,. UK always helping other at our on expense in more ways than one.
I think they’re trying to exhaust Russia in Ukraine so it can no longer pose a threat to NATO. I don’t think it’ll work though.
Exhaust us, run the Army down, give every thing away, Russia is too big to run down,
140 million people and an ageing population. It certainly can be run down. Not as easily as some strategists seem to have believed though.
At what cost in Ukraine lives, dead russian teens and a skint UK? This war is going no where and Russia just chucks numbers at it, weight of numbers wins but very, very slowly,
Another RT troll, welcome comrade 😀
wow what a great answer, if you can not make a point then just abuse, get out your army chair and go risk your life then comment on war and shit thing it is and what is the good in it?
weaken our selves to cause a near stalemate. Great thinking
Weaken ourselves, that is ridiculous Ukraine is our defence it is putting up a defence we can only dream of while making future potential threat from Russia far less likely and far less potent while giving us and more importantly the likes of Poland and Germany the chance to build up defences we will need as and when we become the target. Just look at 1939 to 1940 the Battle of Britain saved Russia it gave them an extra 9 mths to prepare and depleted the German airforce of much needed aircraft and pilots that proved crucial when they invaded Russia. Ukraine is to us what Britain was to Russia then only their very powerful manipulative pr campaign is changing the logic of that message.
Mate you are deluded, pointless carrying on,
1st Dead Russian Teens is their problem and theirs alone, 2nd don’t pretend like you care for Ukrainian lives when you would happily see them suffer under a genocidal dictatorship and 3rd the UK will be in a much worst position if we let Russia win. Now stop belly acing and except that this is war and the world and sacrifices have to be made.
Oh i’m belly aching great come back. , my whole point is robbing Peter to pay Paul is not a great idea. not an option that can go on endlessly,
So you think Ukraine should just surrender ? Why should we let Russia win , they are a dictatorship with a militarily conquest mindset of foreign nations . And then russia is now on border of Poland , Romania and much deeper into Europe. With one of the largest combat ready armies in the world . Russia is also busy taking over large parts of Africa because the West is happy to do nothing
I never said that I said find peace, nothing more. Why are we worrying about Africa they hate us there, insult our history, blame us for all their wrongs. Moan about us being an old empire. Apart from minerals its no importance to us. Just another money pit of un greatfullness. Lets, I know try fix our own f’d up mess of a country, first. And stop trying save the world who on the whole do not like us, and just want our money.
Well yes uk is in a terrible mess
Its ok though we got clean air in London and its not like Top Gear/Grand Tour is about to end. All good then?
Largest combat ready army in the world? check your facts on that, utter rubbish.
A bit tongue in cheek , but by all accounts Russian Army in Ukraine is over 500k and maybe expanding even further . So russia is currently able to supply a standing army of 500k in a combat zone , as well as use artilery , airpower , missiles and now an increasingly sophisticated Drone Corp. The quality may not be great but they are learning how to fight all arms war . Not sure about China probably can put 500k in short notice. Only other army I can think of who can do 500k at short notice at moment is usa . Usa total army number is 450k in 2024, lowest number since 1940 , that probably not including US marines . Though usa 500k v russia 500k I would back usa 🙂
Not sure numbers is the whole picture, and those 500k hardly seem well lead, etc, not a world class army. And the Russian army is smaller than the US Army by far those numbers seem a bit hight 500k? And lets face it Russian kit is on the whole not great.
First Gulf War. 1,500,000 Iraqi vs 900,000 US and Allies. Result: 50,000 Iraqi dead, 147 Allies dead. Russia would stand no chance against NATO.
Russia is being run down, just look at the sat images from their reserve stockpiles.
My prediction is that once the reserves are gone the US will suddenly be very happy to supply the equipment needed to win the war. Once Russia has lost the war it will be hard to justify the total war economy that has enabled them to fight to the very last. Russia will have been declawed and the US can focus on the Pacific.
Umm simplistic, can not say if i agree with it. Russia will call peace before that happens, as for the US Europe is not their point of focus as they need to counter China.
“call peace” war doesn’t really work that way, both sides need to achieve or abandon their war aims.
The US does not need to counter China yet as China does not yet have the means to fight a war. But but that clock is ticking so the US would be wise to weaken Russia now so it can focus its attention on China later.
China does not have the means to fight a war, umm, ok, And I know how wars work but peace is either via defeat or a compromise. I doubt Ukraine or Russia will achieve its aims on the battle field.
As for weaking Russia may be but Russia will learn a lot from this war and has already go some captured Western Tech and has up-graded some of it kit.
Outside of the 5 major cities Russia is a poor third world country, size certainly is not all and as you say a population little more than twice ours. It relies on income on commodities that the World is working to erase from its larder too. It’s doing this out of weakness not strength and is able too only because it controls its ethnic peoples like a medieval potentate, which suffers for its Masters. Putin had to go beg Mongolia to let them build a pipeline through it to China last week which had refused it the week before. Russia is a paper tiger of power, threat and strength the myth only maintained through its nuclear weaponry but it seemingly can fool many in the west to believe otherwise, but hey while its people suffer it’s paying an estimated $1.4 billion to western mouth pieces to maintain and build on that myth and the message clearly gets through to some and helps others who want dictators in the West to take power.
It’s can be run down…the west is profoundly larger in every way than russia, if the west decided to fully unconditionally support Ukraine Russia would loss…as is the west is drip feeding in a way that prevents Ukraine from losing.
No Ukraine can not win, be realistic, run our selves down make our Army a shambles for what? We are not made of money and a have unlimited ammo.
It’s not about Winning, it’s about the type of terms and peace treaty that come from any Armistice. Ukraine may never get all its sovereign territories back and “Win”. But Russia has to know it’s been forced to the table and that “politically” the west did not back down. You have to understand that mindset of these old essentially communist dictators…they very much believe in testing the “political” will of their enemies and subverting that will, if they think they are winning “politically” they will then go kinetic to push the final “political” victory ( read Mao), they are not primarily interested in a nations army, they are attacking the will of a nation and are looking for that “political” weakness, if they think that will is lacking they will go kinetic..because to their view a strong army is irrelevant if a nation is “politically weak”. This has played out in history, look at the French third republic…a large army, but a politically weak nation, that lost to a “politically” strong nation with a smaller army.
So what’s your answer, let Vlad occupy Poland?
As if he would attack Poland, no facts to prove he would.
I agree.
At some point Mad Vlad will run out of antique tanks with a chicken coupe on top.
He is already running low on soldiers thanks to his useless generals only understanding meat grinder tactics.
If UKR could burst through somewhere else and use manoeuvre warfare from the rear it would be over quickly.
Russia’s population is pretty small these days.its industrial base is tiny.
easy to say, but they are still at it, running them down is not really working, great idea but no one really looks at reality
It’s working very well in Kursk
Giving away £249,000 per pop (£162million / 650) shoulder launched 8km range missiles does seem to be running us down for the benefit of Thales. What is the anticipated use case? As Russian planes and helos do not approach the front lines, I guess they will be used to shoot down drones costing Russia somewhere from $1000 to maybe $50k for a Geran-2 (Russian built Shahed 136). Doesn’t seem like smart spending. I suppose if they can be positioned near major targets to shoot down expensive cruise missiles that might make sense, but will they?
We are too busy trying to look good at our run down, hollow army’s expense. That has been my whole point all along right to help Ukraine but we have gone to far within service kit mainly AS90 and the only up graded MLRS we had.
I read figures from four sources and agree with you. Russia is producing more combat aircraft than it loses. Also they have the capacity to produce over 300 T90 type tanks a year, plus upgrading the thousands of older machines held in storage. The propaganda is classic smoke and mirrors. And yes, meanwhile the UK and its “defence” is a basket case.
Seems we are giving a lot away to look good in the worlds eyes but at the cost of our own neglected Army. Lets hope the Army is never called to be used until at least 2030 as it will be in tight spot other wise, may be even unable to do what some ask of it or expect of it.
Seems to be working in Kursk.
Because right now we don’t need the kit, and right now Ukraine does. Because right now one of the biggest threats to our way of life is Russia. In effect Ukraine is fighting this war for us. The least we can do is pay for some of it. And what were paying is going to fund well paid UK jobs and as the story says develop supply chains for increased capacity
Is Russia going to attack the UK, NO, good job really as our pound land Army is run down to near useless. Paying for all this kit is coating the nation when we do not have money to spare. Ukraine and Russia need to find peace, we are prolonging it and no one is ever going to win its near stalemate.
Ah your an apologist for Putin who doesn’t understand the basics. Yes Ukraine needs peace, but not at the cost of loosing their freedom to do as they wish. Any peace with Russia is a defeat.
no i’m an ex soldier who hates seeing my Army run down to a near joke why we break our selves funding a stalemate war, And trust me i am no apologist for that nutter.
Rather some one who sees the mess the Army is in, because we want to look good and rob Peter to pay Paul.
You want a big army to look at and do nothing with
no, i want a well funded army that saves soldiers lives with up to date kit and up to date air defence and better armoured/protected vehicles. A bigger crap rubbish/hollow army army is a danger to those in it who have risk their lives with shit old kit
When Putin decides to take his next bit because he won, that’s what will put our armed forces and our entire nation at profound risk…Ukraine being forced into a poor peace treaty risks general war in Europe between nuclear powers.
but saying that the funding for Ukraine should come from the foreign office not the MOD.
What will he take next? go on tell me which part of NATO will he attack? when? utter rubbish and its just those who want war trying to drag us all in when Russia is not after attacking NATO. Russia will NEVER attack NATO.
That is just crap talking with no facts to back it up,
Yes because no aggressive dictator in history ever went…ohhh I’ve got the bit of land I want, let’s all be peaceful now…clearly the man will push it….at some point he will misstep and push at one of the Baltic states then we will be at war with Russia.
im sorry but your talking crap facts with noting to back it up by saying Russia will never attack NATO, if he thinks the west is politically weak he will push and push. What I have to back my view is the behaviour of every single aggressive expansionist dictatorship in history…
Yes
“…saying that the funding for Ukraine should come from the foreign office not the MOD.”
Exactly this.
At the beginning all of this came from Treasury reserve and then it started slipping into the MoD budget.
Best way to save soldier’s lives is to arm other countries to save themselves
To a degree yes, but yes. And all so talk softly carry a big stick. Top equipment, training backed by stock piled ammo. saves life of those who may have do the fight and not from a comfy chair.
We can not keep on like this the Army is run down shambles god forbid its ever called to do its job.
Right behind you mate.👍 🍺 🇬🇧
Of course, in your arm chair right as every, every else is wrong. You must have been a WO something or officer. They seem to dislike any thing but their truth.
If in doubt abuse, belittle then humiliate that is the Army leadership way, Glad for input you seem so in touch and up to date.
Didn’t we order a lot of these missiles for ourselves last month too?
True, but how many have we gifted and does this order fully replace them? or it just a stop gap? hard to say
6 Stormers gifted with 12 VAMTAC Rapid Ranger on way to replace.
And the order for LMM last month was for a lot more than this one.
AS90 replacement, any ordered apart from 14 FH77 Storm shadow any replacement ordered? 155MM Shells?
We are talking specifically about air defense, no?
You can pull other data out of the air to justify any argument.
35% of all people know that.
but then 35% also talk bollox
Surely that’s closer to 80%, especially those who ignore factual evidence of their country ordering modern kit in greater quantities than they’re giving away…
Ok have have we ordered more Arty guns than we gave away, more 105mm and 155m mm rounds, NLAW’s, Javlin ? if so show me the facts i do not mind being wrong if its a good thing
Toy soldiers so we can parade them just like the Donald wants 😀
Deterrence.
BAOR, what did it do?
It worked.
No BOAR though, what now? re build it, no possible
That is not what I meant, you know that.
may be, but there is no BAOR, that might been a bad idea removing it, but its politics and money, no going back to those good old days sadly
Ultimately, it is boots on the ground.
Bombing people back to the stoneage without nuclear weapons does not work.
A maritime blockade might work sometimes but would take too long.
i have no answer, i’m unsure if or when such a thing might work
Good news, NATO boarder is 1000 miles east of the Rhine these days which is why there is no BAOR.
main reason yes, agreed
You obviously know how to spell obtuse.
We’ve still got the same APVs now!
The BAOR was a joke compared to what it had to stand up against from the Warsaw pact.
Four divisions at best, that was a rounding error for just the Polish army much less the Soviets.
BAOR on its own didn’t deter s**t.
Correct, on its own.
I wonder if the West Germans or the USA prefer that it was not there.
What do you think?
Not to mention Belgians and Dutch in our sector as well!
BOAR was one of the few formations the Russians would have avoided and that comes from that side of the wire. They had great respect for the British and still have. It DID deter as we can all see.
It is not being a Putin apologist to speak it “as it is”. He is right, Britani Jundi is virtually a joke, and the more kit we send to Ukraine? The less to defend Nato, or as history proves ( think 1982 and 1991 ) an unexpected conflict brews elsewhere. As for Ukraine’s recent history? It was set up to fight a proxy war, and is not winning. It really is amusing to read some of the armchair strategists on here daily. And yes, I am a veteran, one like many who has strong views.
It’s Russias invasion of ukraine that has woken the west up to the threat that russia is
It’s the very act of supporting Ukraine that has allowed the west the time it needs to re arm
Without the support we’ve given Ukraine , Russia would have achieved its objectives by now.
If we stop supporting Ukraine, Russia has won the first battle.
As long as Ukraine survives, Russia is in no fit state to look at any Western countries next. As long as Ukraine fights the Russian Army and economy gets seeker.
You miss the point entirely. Nothing but a proxy war, the same as happened to counter the Domino Effect in the 60’s and 70’s. And that failed, but did the west learn? Read some Alexander Dugan, then you might understand Putin. Then read about 2014 and why Crimea was invaded. Then ask where the blame actually lies.
Russia already attacked the Uk twice, once with chemical weapons and once with a nuclear weapon, people were killed and severely injured both times.
Oh yeah that was an act of war? we should go to war over that or wrong as it let wiser heads calm things down, war is not fun a joke some to write about. Easy in chair at home but not so when those you know come home in flag draped boxes. Or can not walk again.
Which is why we didn’t go to war over it but instead started arming Ukraine.
It no coincidence the UK has been Ukraine’s biggest backer.
I dispute biggest?
It’s like arming the Spanish and Austrians to fight napoleon. It’s a tactic that’s always worked well for us.
back when we could do it with out ruining our own run down 1980’S out matched, army of today.
An excellent strategy when the UK has a small population and is basically a maritime power
It better Ukrainians use British Weapons to kill Russians in Ukraine and Russia. Then it is for British soldiers to use British weapons to kill Russians in Poland and the Baltics.
As killing people is fine ok as long as they young men from a bad place, and our joke Army could not last a week and because our kit is so crap many UK soldiers would die because of that fact alone,
So you want a large army but you don’t want any of it equipment to be used to kill the enemy and you don’t want any of its soldiers to be put in harms way? And also do tell me how our kit is so crap? Oh and to answer the rhetorical yes yes it is fine, if they didn’t want to die perhaps they shouldn’t be in Ukraine.
Why would any one want UK soldiers in harms way its not a game, i never said large army, you did, and yes are kit is crap, out of date, lacking in numbers and spares and retention is failing. But its ok, we can seed what we have not got much of to Ukraine and not fix our own army,
If you think our army is good shape then you need to get drug tested
Everyone I know who was out just before 82, 91 and 2001 all desperately tried to get back in.
Soldiers spend years training for war not because they like to train.
It’s an aggressive volunteer force not a conscript army. Anyone in the Army who doesn’t want to go on operations should not be there.
Everyone I know who has served or is serving feels the same way.
No one routes for war but no one wants to train for ever and not use their skills for real.
agreed, totally
Our kit today is way better than what I had in the 90’s. Our rifles barely worked, boots were useless and Radios were a hit and miss some times. Loads of tanks, half of them missing engines.
Lots of cap badges but little long range precision fires.
The army of the 80’s and 90’s was nothing to reminisce about.
oh well fun sponge, BOAR was more fun then, the Army was less up its self, Any you think our kit is so better now when it works, if you can get spares for it, if you can fully man it and if you can get ammo for it, each to thier own
In fairness , spending the money on Ukraine is excellent efficiency for UK. Aside from protecting a valuable friendly nation like Ukraine who are also fighting on our behalf . The uk benefits from old militairy stock being used up , and new stock being ordered and a massive improvement in uk logistics from manufacture to supply to uk Militairy . Ukraine really has shown how poor shape all our armed forces are in
That is my whole point, it made us as a nation look crap and fake with our shambles army, may be good will come of it but already i sense the defence spending of 2.5% GDP will be delayed, avoided.
Th Army is a total mess, we all know it. Its years of decline and bad leadership, cuts, equipment failings, poor retention etc, a mountain to fix.
Example AS90, just enough to cover our forces in Baltic States left, no replacement ordered but its ok, just go with out, do with out. Same no Harriers, Nimrods years ago, just go with out. Great option.
Funding Ukraine is the best investment we can make in our defence right now. Ukrainians are paying in blood to protect Europe from the Russian dictatorship. All we are being asked for is money.
A bit deeper than that, not an investment if we have empty the Army to help then not replace things. Ukraine was never part of modern western Europe its a bit deeper than that, nor was it in NATO, i agree its brutal invasion, uncalled for and needs to end.
Ukraine was part of Russia before the Second World War etc, no reason to invade it agreed. Not how ever as simple as some see it. it was not under western protection. Next an attack on NATO country? no not likely ever, sorry that is just rubbish thinking. Put out to get the weak and easily scared mined to worry with no facts backing it up.
I think you really do need to analyse the bigger picture the plans of Russia and increasingly China and very likely BRICS as a grouping in the future is to destroy the power of the west and the rules based World order which has immense economic and military for the future exploiting all manner of secret ops already working behind the scenes to enable it. Ukraine is simply part of the enabling and softening up process the more they get away with the more inclined they will be to move on to future planned stages and quicker. The loss of Taiwan will collapse western economies.
If we wait to act then whatever re-arming we do will be pointless in the face of the power ranged against us down the line. Ukraine is arguably the most powerful European armed force at the moment, to lose that as a bulwark, a disabling factor on Russia and potentially a half million greater military force aimed seasoned troops against us in the future once ‘re education’ economic bribery and ultimate threat is complete, as they have done with other minorities they control, doesn’t bare thinking about. Let alone the economic control Russia gains by controlling such matters as food exports to Africa while China controls technological and financial matters there. This is all Russias move to remain relevant in a world dominated by China and its acolytes so not a time for us to be naively short termism in our views.
Are on meds? borderline paranoid ?
its Worth noting this is the UK at its best, using its soft power and military industrial capacity..its managed to bring together Norway, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Lithuanian, Iceland, Australia and New Zealand into a funding and weapons buying group for Ukriane.
Precisely. Call it soft power or punching above your weight or whatever. It’s leadership and consensus forming, and we are good at it.
The best thing Boris achieved to be honest.
Because he focussed on it in a protracted way that he couldn’t focus on anything else.
Surely not, people keep telling me we are s**t at everything on here
The Russians say it all the time 😀
It’s fair to say we are less good than we should be at some things.
So has Star Streak been completely superceded by Martlet?
I hope not, StarStreak is the better SAM with the capability to take on fast jets… LMM / Martlet is more flexible in the range of targets it can engage but it can only do mach 1.5 compared to more than mach 3 for StarStreak. StarStreak can also get about 7km altitude apparently, it is a significantly bigger missile being 13cm dia and 1.5m length compared to 7.6cm dia and 1.3m length for LMM / Martlet.
StarStreak is getting on a bit now being developed in the 80’s although but it has been upgraded to StarStreak A5 and it deployed to Paris to cover the Olympic Games…
Cheers CR
Thx. Same guidance system and same launcher though, right?
The launcher on both Stormwr and then VAMTAC Rapid Ranger is designed to take/fire both, so a mixture.
There is a pretty good video about it on Forces News if you’re interested mate.
Good video. Cheers.
No worries!
No.
We can’t go on forever using million pound missiles to destroy drones that cost a few tens of thousand of pounds, its simply not financially viable and Russia knows this. A cheaper alternative has to be found to deal with drones
Does aid for Ukraine come out of the MOD budget? If so – why? Aid for Ukraine is a political decision taken by HMG. I’m not arguing that we should not help Ukraine – indeed I strongly believe that we should – but it should be paid for from Treasury funds and not from the already overstretched defence budget.
We can afford another 650 missiles for Ukraine but not 650 books for the local library.
Becoming very obvious Putin is getting his allies in place , just a matter of time before this madness spreads hopefully NATO is getting it’s war machine in full gear.
Agree with this, yes we are going to get more cuts and lose capability, but the most immediate threat at this moment, to both the UK and Europe is Russia. Therefore lets use our kit to degrade the enemy capability, which has a long term positive effect for the UK and NATO. But, big but, we need to look at the short term impacts a weakened defence posture can have on possible enemies and Allies alike. No Political party gives a real rats ass about defence, but the next 3-5 years will be a defining period for Europe and NATO, depending on how China projects itself. We do need to up our game in both funding and decent procurement, but also recruitment and retention. I am not holding my breath however…….