The Defence Secretary, Grant Shapps, is set to declare a fresh package of military assistance for Ukraine today, totalling more than £100m.
This funding is designed to bolster Ukraine’s armed forces by aiding in the clearance of minefields, vehicle maintenance, and strengthening defensive structures to guard the nation’s key infrastructure.
This aid, financed through the International Fund for Ukraine (IFU), will be jointly unveiled by the Defence Secretary and his counterparts from the IFU partner countries during the Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting at NATO’s headquarters in Brussels.
Moreover, the concluding contract of the earlier IFU air defence package has been signed, allocating over £70m of capabilities to Ukraine. Among the provisions is the MSI-DS Terrahawk Paladin.
Launched as a joint effort by the UK and Denmark in 2022, the IFU has been formulated to secure capabilities best tailored to the needs of Ukraine’s armed forces. Since its inception, an additional five countries have joined the IFU, signifying the unified commitment of allies in their backing of Ukraine.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps was quoted as saying, “During my recent visit to Kyiv, I assured President Zelenskyy of the UK’s unwavering support for Ukraine and their pressing necessities. Today, I’m honoured to confirm that the UK, in conjunction with our allies, is honouring that commitment with fresh contracts to equip Ukraine with essential air defence systems. This will shield civilians from Putin’s ruthless aerial assaults and pledges over £100 million in new gear, empowering Ukrainian troops to navigate Russia’s perilous minefields.”
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, Chief of the Defence Staff, was quoted as saying, “This latest support package is a testament to the concerted effort by 50 nations to endow Ukraine with the resources required to counter Russia’s hostility and reclaim their losses.”
Is this MSI Terrahawk also being offered to UK forces, on MAN truck/Boxer and even as an upgrade/evolution of the DS30mm naval mounts? I think Daniele mentioned earlier that this platform was part of several GBAD UK systems being put forward.
Indeed. I believe it was being looked at as part of the 6 AD programs the British Army have underway.
Hi Daniele, that’s good news! Will be interesting to see what gun we’re considering for ours.
Also, question that you may not have the answer to: can it be fired on the back of the truck, or does it have to be put on the ground?
Hi Joe.
Would not have the foggiest! I’m an ORBAT man, not a techie😄
With the rise of the cheap drone, it is surely inevitable that at last the British Army will acquire some kind of rapid fire AA gun.
I often regretted that we did not buy a Gepard-like AD system, to complement Rapier.
We even developed one…Marksman.
It was purchased by the Finns and is in service to today.
Yes indeed. Developed by Marconi UK and ordered by Finland in 1990. Initially mounted by Finland on a T-55 chassis but now on a Leo2 chassis. A very accurate weapon system.
Can’t think why the British Army relied solely on Rapier.
We have to remember at the time of 1990 the only threat from the air would be fast jets, helicopters and some missiles. Gun systems just aren’t that great at dealing with those targets as missiles.
Also the number of targets to be depth with wouldn’t be thought to be a lot.
Now though that has changed.
I’ve wondered if Ajax could be used in a front line counter UAV role against cheap drones. CTA40 has a very wide and fast arc of elevation which is designed specifically for AD, and also a rapid rate of fire.
The limitation is the size of the magazine, and I don’t know anything about the sensors/fire solutions. But it’s certainly possible it could be useful against small drones
If you click on the link above it clearly shows both options 👍
Hopefully a 30mm caliber as at least we know the UK manufactures that round and therefore has sovereign internalized capability to restock and replenish ammo stockpiles.
I didn’t even know we had such a capability to give away, interesting.
The wording is fuzzy, is this UK giving £100m or UK and partners giving a combined £100m?
Might be wrong, but I read it as combined with other IFU partners.
Yup, my thoughts👍
Ditto – otherwise why is it going to be jointly announced?
Every little helps. Could do with being a lot more. There should be some kind of system where your if you wish you can do a salary sacrifice for Ukraine. Putting the money towards stuff that the government prepare for Ukraine.
As great as the charities are finding some that actually use the money effectively is difficult for some people. Then there is the issue of purchasing weapons.
The government could gift aid aswell.
That’s actually not a bad idea.
I do have them, not often but sometimes 😂😂😂
A kind of modern day “we want 8 and we wont wait” drive- I agree there could be much more done to raise funds to keep Ukraine in the war and fighting.
There are plenty of wealthy individuals in the UK that could easily donate, if they could be arsed. I often find there is a reason someone is rich and it is often because they are tight and about as generous as a stone being squeezed.
How many terrahawk does 70 mil get you? Hopefully at least 10? Manufactured in Norwich?
Can anyone explain to me how the UK as s**t as it is at everything apparently seems to be the only country that can stitch together countries from across the world to participate in sensible ideas like military funding for Ukraine or joint fighter developments projects etc.
No one else seems to be able to do this, it’s almost like we are punching above our weight some how. 😀
That’s because the U.K. isn’t sh**. Some folks like to say it is but until you live in other countries they have nothing to compare it to.
Sh** is both contextually fluid and perceptional in nature…Cr*p on the other hand is entirely situational….
Thanks for this clarification as I thought they were the same or very close relatives…lol 😁
Soft Power, UK is number two in the World.
Hard power, we don’t do badly at either.
Its because we have several things going for us that others struggle with and its not down to our size or budget but part of our makeup. We have an odd reputation of doing everything we can to do what we have commited to do, no more and no less (see WW1 and WW2 decleration of wars for details). We tend to bring a lot to the table that we discount and forget about such as technology, improvisation and we know what it is to live on a budget. We also have a huge amount of experience in our Defence… Read more »
Its because the UK is an innovation and creativity powerhouse. more than 70% of all the worlds newest inventions, breakthroughs in technology and novel applications for existing technology come from the UK. The rest of the world begrudgingly don’t acknowledge this fact and our country literally never capitalizes on our creativity- instead we sell our ideas abroad or new technology start ups are sold to big multinationals instead of hanging in there to become a big multinational themselves.
Soft power and I believe we are ranked 2nd or 3rd in global soft power so definitely not sh1t
Or, [NOT] crap!
A recent report put the UK as the world number 2 in terms of soft power – something a lot of detractors (and supporters!) fail to mention.
Something along these lines would be sensible to guard our airfields too with the RAF Reg regaining some AAA to secure their charges. Similar could also be fitted to Shipping taken up from Trade so need a few in store awaiting a quick fit. Has to be self contained too, winner.
Ukraine has much more and better air defence than the UK, As NATO countries go ours is the worse, no long range, no Anti UAV, no gun systems. One regiment of air defence. Could not protect the army let alone the country
Don’t forget Ukraine is at War with a major power – we are not, needs must at the end of the day.
What do we do if we went to war, hope for the best? . Our army is a paper tiger, hand full of tanks, no long range tube Artillery. IFV’s that are nearing 40 years old,
Hopefully the gifted AD systems will also protect service personnel as well as civilians!
From what I have read about the difficulties the Ukrainian infrantry and engineers are having with the 500m+ deep minefields the mine clearing equipment is probably going to be the most important part of this lot.
Lets hope we find the resources to supply more mine clearing equipment.
Cheers CR
If this Terrahawk mount has the same dimensions as a 20/40′ container there is the potential for a naval mount on RFAs, OPVs, even the carriers! Sorry, had to mention that. Wonder if there’s a Martlet/Starstreak configuration as I believe there is for a CAMM 2*4.
The Terrahawk gun is the standard RN 30mm mount…which is already fitted on RFA, OPV as well as Frogates and Destroyers….we even purchased 6 new ones for the Carriers but have not fitted them..radar and E/O is fitted elsewhere on the ships.
Excellent- where does HMG need to sign for a contingency reserve of say 100 of these mounts- to be manned by the TA/ reserves/ RAF regiment/ RN reserves for critical national infrastructure defense or defense of key military bases?
We really don’t have that many bases or key sites to defend so wouldn’t need thousands of these things just enough to provide a reasonably prudent defensive capability, rather than virtually none as now.
We could use some of those Terrahawk Palladins ourselves- the UK core bases and critical national infrastructure are particularly undefended at this time- if HMG could see themselves purchasing maybe 100 of these mounts and hand them over to the TA or reserves then we could activate them at a time of heightened risk and ensure at least some capable token defence from drones, helicopters and I guess potentially cruise missiles?
Don’t think a short ranged gun based system is suitable for UK defence, is needed for a field army. However, our lack of a medium range missile defence system in the UK is potentially a big mistake.
Utter madness, throwing even more money away on a lost cause. £100,000,000 would be better spent on our own armed forces.