The UK will provide more than £500 million in urgent air defence support for Ukraine, the Defence Secretary has announced at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, linking the package to wider UK commitments in the High North and NATO’s new Arctic security mission.

Speaking this morning at NATO, Defence Secretary John Healey said the UK was increasing its posture in the Arctic while stepping up immediate support to Ukraine’s air defence.

“Yesterday I was in the High North, confirming that the UK is doubling its Marines and its major military exercises there,” Healey said. “This morning, I’m here at NATO, confirming that Britain will play a central part in NATO’s Arctic security mission, Arctic Sentry to strengthen security in the region.”

He added that a further announcement would follow later today on Ukraine. “This afternoon, I’ll be confirming that Britain is providing an extra half a billion pounds in urgent air defence to Ukraine,” he said. Healey described the announcements as part of a wider UK approach to European security through NATO. “This is Britain being a force for good in the world, building a new deal for European security within NATO,” he said.

“I’m proud of the UK’s armed forces. I’m proud of the UK’s leadership. I’m proud of the UK’s commitment to our allies.” Healey closed by stressing solidarity and readiness in what he described as a more dangerous security environment. “We will back you. We will defend you. We will fight with you in this new era of threat and hard power,” he said.

What the £500m package includes

The Ministry of Defence said the UK will urgently provide new air defence missiles and systems worth over £500 million to help protect Ukraine from attacks on energy infrastructure and residential areas.

  • £150 million to the NATO Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative, described as a mechanism to enable rapid delivery of air defence interceptors, with NATO coordinating purchases from the United States for Ukraine’s defence.
  • 1,000 Lightweight Multirole Missiles (LMMs), manufactured in Belfast, intended to support the defence of infrastructure and cities against drone and missile attacks.
  • A £390 million deal described by the MoD as building on UK-Ukraine industrial collaboration, including transferring production and support of Rapid Ranger launchers and command and control vehicles to Ukraine.
  • Additional deliveries over the coming months of 1,200 air defence missiles and 200,000 rounds of artillery ammunition through the Air Defence Consortium (ADC).

The announcements come as NATO ministers meet in Brussels to discuss defence investment, industrial output and continued support for Ukraine, alongside new Alliance activity focused on the High North.

George Allison
George Allison
George Allison is the founder and editor of the UK Defence Journal. He holds a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and specialises in naval and cyber security topics. George has appeared on national radio and television to provide commentary on defence and security issues. Twitter: @geoallison
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12 COMMENTS

    • Not just just Lossiemouth, but all key air and naval bases should have some base level of deployable GBAD/Shorad. At the moment isn’t it just the Army with SkySabre and LMM? Seems like a lack of cross utilisation across all the forces. Several posters have advocated adopting the Aster SAMP/T and more basic systems like the Terrahawk 30mm, Tridon 40mm truck based. We’ll see if the DIP provides anything for this near vacant area for the UK.

      • Quentin, you are right. The army’s GBAD is of course for the protection of operationally deployed army units and formations and not for the likes of defending Lossiemouth or anywhere else in the UK….and there isn’t much of it. The army has a mere 7 SkySabre systems (compared to the 73 Rapier Fire Units that preceeded them), some of which are in the Falklands and in Estonia. Still, never mind, another 6 are on order (for £118m)!

        SkySabre is of course the army version of CAMM, which AFAIK is across all three services.

      • Even with Aster 30s you’re looking at dozen(?) installations to cover the U.K.

        For shorad for all high-value targets in the U.K. you’re looking at thousands of systems, and thousands of servicemen to operate them, both making the cost prohibitive.

        I think the emphasis will be on long-range missile intercepts and air-to-air interception, both manned (Typhoons) and unmanned (drones). This also allows for interception over the sea rather than populated areas.

  2. Seems like we should send CAMM to Ukraine. This is a great real world scenario to test it in. Almost every western missile from Aster to Starstreak is not engaged against Russia and the experience is proving invaluable. CAMM seems to be the only missile not in the field.

  3. This Government cares more about Ukraine defence than UK defence.
    While we keep handing over such capabilites, we are pimping the RNs new destroyers out to anyone interested.

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