UK’s ground-based air defence effort remains in assessment phase after third industry day
Starstreak-armed Stormer air defence batteries currently provide a GBAD capability for the British Army. (Photo: Crown Copyright)
The UK’s plan to introduce a new air defence capability into the British Army will cover short and medium-range defence as well as counter-uncrewed aerial system systems. Timelines are not yet laid out but industry is making plans.
The UK Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) 2026 Defence Investment Plan (DIP) committed £1.5 billion (US$2 billion) to ground-based air defence (GBAD) efforts, a vote of confidence in a document which focused mostly on naval, air and uncrewed programmes.
This followed a third Market Interest Day (MID) in February which, according to the MoD, was “to provide an update on the progress of the Land GBAD Programme and to offer Industry an opportunity to provide feedback”.
The procurement is for short-range air defence (SHORAD), medium-range air defence (MRAD), specialist counter-uncrewed air systems (S-CUAS) for SHORAD and MRAD, and all
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