Tim Martin is Breaking Defense's European Bureau Chief, leading regional coverage of the NATO nations and European industry. He joined Breaking Defense in 2022 after a three year spell at Shephard Media as Air Editor. Based in Belfast, Tim holds two Defence Media Awards to his name, and has bylines with a number of B2B and print media publications, including the Irish Times newspaper.
Reflecting on the decision to add the six MRSS vessels to 22 other Royal Navy ships on order or in build, UK defence secretary Grant Shapps said, “this is a golden age for British shipbuilding.”
The various suppliers were all picked to join a Hypersonic Technologies and Capability Development Framework (HTCDF) agreement, making them eligible to compete for eight lots worth a maximum value of £1 billion ($1.3 billion) over the next seven years.
Terms of the acquisition include the shipbuilder paying a fixed fee of €300 million ($323 million), and “based on certain growth assumptions,” an additional €115 ($124 million) directly relating to performance of the underwater armaments business this year.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius encouraged allies, including the US, to “arrive” at military expenditure of 3 percent GDP – though declined to put forward a timeline for such change to occur.
NATO has established eight different capability coalitions designed to get critical systems or ammo into Ukrainian hands quickly. Here’s a deep dive into how they’re all faring.
“We do have indications that this was the suspected work of a malign actor and we cannot rule out state involvement,” Grant Shapps, UK defense secretary told lawmakers.
The comments are the second time in the span of 10 months that industrial officials have publicly revealed a reduced buy from a max of 44 helos is on the table.
Ann McDonnell, chief operating officer for Export Controls Australia Group, told Breaking Defense, “I think definitely from the Australian perspective, it really seemed like we had done everything possible that we could do in a really quick timeframe to get that certification.”
The future company will commit to a 50/50 workshare split between French and German manufacturers, supported by an “innovative ‘level-pillar approach,’” said manufacturer KNDS.
All equipment included in the pledge is to be ordered from industry, not drawn from US stocks — meaning it could take years for the weapons to arrive in Ukraine.
The manufacturer is shifting attention to alliance requirements in the aftermath of the US Army cancelling its next-generation Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) effort.
Such is the scale of British Army acquisition problems alone that they could not be resolved if the UK moved to a long term spending settlement of even 4 percent GDP, an expert told British lawmakers.
Under the new plan, London wants to spend a cumulative extra of £75 billion ($93 billion) over the next six years, culminating in a 2030 annual defense budget of £87 billion ($108 billion), which would make it second in NATO only to the US in defense expenditure.
