 | |
| Company type | Division |
|---|---|
| Industry | Defence |
| Founded | 2001; 24 years ago (2001) |
| Headquarters | , England |
Number of locations | 3 |
Key people | Chris Allam (Managing Director) |
| Products | SeeProducts |
Number of employees | 4,000 |
| Parent | MBDA |
| Website | www |
MBDA UK is the Britishdivision of the pan-Europeanmissile systems companyMBDA (itself a joint venture ofAirbus,BAE Systems andLeonardo). Formed in 2001, the company has developed, both independently and in cooperation, a range of missile systems, including theCAMM missile family,Storm Shadow cruise missile,ASRAAM air-to-air missile andMeteorbeyond-visual-range missile (BVRAAM).
MBDA UK was first incorporated in 1996 as Brathwell, based inCardiff, before being renamed Matra BAe Dynamics UK shortly afterwards, serving as the UK-based part of the Anglo-French missile systems company,Matra BAe Dynamics.[1] In 2001, Matra BAe Dynamics merged with the FrenchEADS Aerospatiale Matra Missiles and Anglo-ItalianAlenia Marconi Systems to form a pan-European missile systems company, namedMBDA. After the merge, national subsidiaries were created from the predecessor companies in theUnited Kingdom,France andItaly and named MBDA UK, MBDA France and MBDA Italy, respectively.[2] MBDA UK inherited various products which were designed and manufactured by its predecessor companies, includingRapier[3] andSea Wolf[4]surface-to-air missiles, which were originally manufactured by theBritish Aircraft Corporation (BAC).
In 2001, the company delivered itsStorm Shadow cruise missile to theRoyal Air Force, which it had co-developed with the French subsidiary of Matra BAe Dynamics. Whilst the weapon was still in trials, it was pushed into operational service for use by the RAF duringOperation Telic inIraq.[5][6][7][8] The following year also saw the delivery of theASRAAM short-range air-to-air missile, which had been in testing since 1998.[9] The missile was delivered 37 months behind schedule, due largely to hardware and software technical difficulties, however the UK Ministry of Defence also blamed the delays on MBDA for "failing to meet contractual performance".[9]
MBDA UK became the prime contractor for the multinationalMeteor programme in 2002 to deliver a beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) capability to its participants. The programme involved MBDA UK's sister divisions in France, Italy and Germany,[9] as well as Spain and Sweden. Several years later, in 2005, the company delivered itsBrimstone air-launched ground-attack missile to the RAF.[10] Its first operational deployment came in 2008 duringOperation Herrick inAfghanistan.[11]
In 2009, the company made its first export sale for ASRAAM toAustralia.[12] This was followed shortly after by an export sale toSaudi Arabia.[13]
By 2010, the company had begun work on theFire Shadowloitering munition for theBritish Army.[14] The company's Brimstone missile also received increased publicity following the launch ofOperation Ellamy inLibya andOperation Shader inIraq andSyria, with politicians and analysts highlighting the missile's low risk ofcollateral damage.[15] This resulted in increased interest in the missile on the export market, in particular by the United States and France.[16] The company further developed Brimstone into a range of variants, including a sea-launchedBrimstone Sea Spear,Brimstone 3 and an entirely new missile, currently namedSPEAR 3, which uses technology derived from Brimstone.[17]
TheLancaster House Treaties signed in 2010 by the British and French governments resulted in the company collaborating with MBDA France on several missile projects, including the FutureAnti-Surface Guided Weapon (Heavy) (FASGW(H)) anti-ship missile, later namedSea Venom, and a newhypersonic cruise missile, later namedPerseus.[18]
In 2017, the company began leading a consortium to develop a laserdirected-energy weapon technology demonstrator, namedDragonfire, for the UK MOD.[19]
In 2018, MBDA UK opened a new facility inBolton to carry out final assembly work for Meteor for all six European partner nations.[20] By 2018, the missile had achieved marked export success, with export sales toIndia, Saudi Arabia,South Korea,Brazil andEgypt, among other countries. Since 2014, MBDA UK also collaborated withJapan to produce a Japanese Meteor-derived missile, known as JNAAM.[21] During the same year, the company joined other leading British defence companies in Team Tempest, a consortium led by BAE Systems to develop theBAE Systems Tempest fighter aircraft. The company's responsibilities are to provide advanced weapon systems, including the integration ofSPEAR 3 and Meteor missiles,electronic warfare capabilities and an anti-ship cruise missile which is still in development.[22]
The company's sales to Saudi Arabia, particularly of Brimstone and Storm Shadow ground-attack missiles, received increased scrutiny following theSaudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen and Saudi Arabia's allegedwar crimes. The potential complicity of MBDA UK in these crimes became the subject of a 300-page report submitted to theInternational Criminal Court by theEuropean Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights in 2019.[23]
Following theRussian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, MBDA UK supported the British government's efforts to supply Ukraine with military aid. The company's weapons donated to Ukraine include the Brimstone air-to-ground missile and the Storm Shadow cruise missile.[24] The latter was described as a "game changer" by analysts as Ukraine had a deficiency in long-ranged weapons.[25][26] The missiles had to be modified for integration on Ukraine's Soviet-sourcedSu-24 strike aircraft.[27] This process took a matter of weeks, rather than years under normal circumstances.[28] The missiles have been used extensively during the war, including in attacks against the RussianBlack Sea Fleet. Working with the UK MOD, MBDA UK also rapidly developed a surface-launched variant of its ASRAAM air-to-air missile to be used for air defence. It has a reported successful hit rate of 90%.[29]
MBDA UK is headquartered inStevenage,England.[30] It has a workforce of 4,000 employees and has sites inBristol,Bolton and Stevenage.[31] It is the only part of MBDA with a Special Security Agreement (SSA) with theU.S. Department of Defense, allowing it to carry out classified activities in theUnited States.[32] Chris Allam has been the company's Managing Director since 2018.[1]
By then upgraded to the GR4 standard, the UK's ground-attack aircraft played a part in the opening salvoes of the second conflict with Saddam Hussein's forces in Iraq. This was a spectacular debut for its Storm Shadow weapons, which allowed pinpoint strikes to be conducted against key infrastructure targets from a launch distance of more than 135nm (250km).
2003 - Flew the RAF's first operational mission using Storm Shadow.
[Wing Commander Robertson] set about completing his mission - firing Britain's first air-launched cruise missile, the Storm Shadow.
| Subsidiaries and divisions | |
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| Joint ventures |
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