https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c74knzk9x8zo.amp
The Thales missile factory in Belfast is to supply 5,000 air defence missiles to Ukraine, the Prime Minister has announced.
The deal is worth up to £1.6bn and will involve recruiting 200 additional staff.
Thales is a French-owned company which one of Europe's biggest arms manufacturers.
The order is for lightweight multirole missiles (LMMs) which Ukrainian forces are already using.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced the order as he laid out a four point plan to "reach peace and defend Ukraine".
A £162m contract announced in September last year saw 650 LMMs supplied to Ukraine as an initial order to ramp up production, with the first deliveries in December.
The new order is much bigger: it is worth an initial £1.16bn with the potential for around a further £500m of work to be added in collaboration with a Ukrainian industry partner.
The partner firm will manufacture launchers and command and control vehicles for the missiles in Ukraine.
The UK Ministry of Defence said it is the largest contract ever received by Thales in Belfast.
The Defence Secretary John Healey said the deal would "help protect Ukraine against drone and missile attacks and help deter further Russian aggression following any end to the fighting".
The contract has been placed by the MoD's procurement arm Defence Equipment & Support on behalf of the Ukrainian Government.
It will be funded by a loan underwritten by United Kingdom Export Finance (UKEF) after a deal signed last year to allow Ukraine to draw on £3.5bn worth of support from UKEF to spend with UK industry.
by ser-1-
22 comments
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They really should keep that shit in house.
[deleted]
Calorgas, drain pipes, petrol, sugar; etc.
They should put a nice wee message on these like we use to do during WWII.
*To ~~Hitler~~Putin, love from Belfast.*
*P.S Hope this landed in yer fuckin garden ya bastard ye*.
For those wondering if it makes us a “target”, don’t worry Shorts have been supplying Jav missiles since the start of the war. We’re already targets. 😀
Edit: thanks for the correction below, NLAWs not Javs my bad.
Ffs this place has enough rockets running about.
Great news for the local economy we are really good at making weapon’s
And more so that they will be used to target fascist Russian and Iranian drones and aircraft
The U.K. is on the right side of history here
No matter what the “ pace at any cost lot might say “ Ukraine must be given the arms and ability to fight on for however long it wishes to
Send a few Belfast Ma’s to the front line. Sort the whole thing out
Stand by Democracy and Freedom !thankfully the Irish people know well what colonizers do .it is in my DNA from my Irish heritage ,were treated like scum in my country of birth America the time was not that long ago it is a very important part of history to remember and never forget .
Starstreak and Nlaw?
Great news, but who’s going to turn up and protest outside the factory?
This is really going to mess with the heads of that crowd who were protesting at the factory because of missiles being sent to Israel, Cause most if not all of them also back Ukraine lol
It’s always blew my mind that we have a missile factory here.
This is all well and good but having just read about the Belfast Blitz last night this puts a massive ass target on us and it is much easier for Russia to attack us that it even was for the Luftwaffe. Just saying.
Is my maths off, or does a missile cost the same as a large 4 bedroom detached house?
in the towwwn, were I was borrrn, lived a ma-a-annn who sailed to seaaaa . . .
[UK Taxpayers’ Cash Is Funding an Arms Firm Whose Biggest Shareholder Is Now Bankrolling Nigel Farage’s Reform UK – Byline Times](https://bylinetimes.com/2025/02/28/uk-taxpayers-cash-is-funding-an-arms-firm-whose-biggest-shareholder-is-now-bankrolling-nigel-farages-reform-uk/)
why would you copy paste the whole text then intentionally cut this out :
“Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced the order as he laid out a four point plan to [“reach peace and defend Ukraine”](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy4vevpv14vo). ”
rule 3
That’s us a target
Hey Putin smell your ma and meet your Belfast da.
Ah … but are the New/Real RA going to steal/smuggle these weapons for the Palestinians. One wonders.. 🤔
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