Thales in the UK has been awarded a contract by the Ministry of Defence to continue work on the Mounted Short Range Air Defence (MSHORAD) programme.
The contract, signed with Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), extends the programme’s assessment phase and supports further development of technologies intended to replace the Army’s current Stormer High Velocity Missile Self-Propelled system.
The MSHORAD programme is part of a wider effort to modernise the Army’s layered air defence network in response to evolving aerial threats, including drones, missiles and low-flying aircraft.
According to Thales, the contract will support the next stage of work to define future system requirements and capabilities. “This contract supports the next phase of development for future MSHORAD capabilities and modernisation of the British Army’s ground-based air defence suite,” the company said.
The programme will ultimately replace the Stormer HVM SP platform, which currently provides the Army’s mounted short-range air defence capability.
Stormer HVM vehicles, armed with Thales’ StarStreak missile system, entered British Army service in the 1990s and were designed to counter fast, low-flying aerial threats such as attack helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.
The system has remained in service for decades and continues to provide the Army with a mobile air defence capability able to accompany manoeuvre forces.
“The Stormer HVM SP system, featuring Thales’ StarStreak missile, entered service with the British Army in the 1990s to counter threats from pop-up helicopters and fixed wing aircraft,” the company noted.
However, the Ministry of Defence is now seeking to replace the system to meet modern battlefield requirements. The future MSHORAD capability will form part of the Army’s broader Ground Based Air Defence architecture, which aims to provide layered protection against a wide range of aerial threats.
Is that the sound of a can being kicked down the road i hear????
So now we are going to study the study?
Here we go again talk talk 🙄
We’re ranked really high on defence spending in the world, but we seem to have hardly anything to show for it. What do we actually spend our money on? You’d think we’d have some of the most advanced MSHORAD in the world. I know we spend money on a nuclear deterrence, but I’m starting to think we put a lot things under ‘defence spending’ that can’t actually be used in a conventional war.
Nuclear capability, from AWE to new warheads.
AUKUS, including billions handed to industry to expand and update infrastructure.
GCAP. Same, tens of billions. How many aircraft do we bet the RAF may end up with for the outlay?
Pensions.
Chagos payments. Someone told me the FCDO pay, I’d like to see the proof?
Afghan rehoming. Over 1 billion.
SSN decommissioning.
The SIA will shortly be added as well, around 4 billion.
Ukraine ops payments, billions.
Equipment “support” from memory around 10 billion. Not in buying, but supporting. So, basically a huge subsidy to the MIC.
Then the expected wages, fuel costs, infrastructure maintenance costs.
Incompetence, as billions lost in failed programs.
R&D, ring fenced.
The % spent on buying equipment and recruiting more personnel to expand a stretched, hollowed out military that HMG use as either a piggy bank or a political football in their world stage grandstanding is minimal.
Beware when a politician says how much is spent on “Defence.” Defence has many heads, and the military isn’t their priority in it.
Willy waving as a nuclear power, so politics, and industry, so jobs, are.
One look at the varied tweets recently from the MoD about the 23 NMH purchase, talking endlessly about the jobs at yeovil and how wonderful it all is, but not a peep about military capability nor how long the RAF are now without any medium heli lift, tells you all you need to know.
We could spend most of our budget on all OTS kit, have lots more assets, but no defence industry. And that also would be wrong.
There must be a balance between industry and OTS for me.
Great yet more talk, projects etc etc, its always the same nothing ordered just more time wasted doing a lot of nothing, State normal, when will it ever change?