UK MoD to purchase six more Land Ceptor launchers

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 22 August 2025 that it is ordering six new Land Ceptor medium-range air defence missile systems from MBDA to bolster national security and defence.

The MoD noted that the purchase is worth GBP 118 million (EUR 136 million) and will secure “up to 140 jobs, including at manufacturer MBDA’s site in Bolton, Lancashire”. The three-year contract will deliver not only the six Land Ceptor launchers but also a suite of supporting equipment, including 12 fire unit support vehicles for ammunition, eight vehicles for baggage, eight threat evaluation and weapon assignment systems, plus spare parts.

The Land Ceptor launch systems, which fire MBDA’s Common Anti-Air Modular Missiles (CAMMs), are part of the British Army’s overall Sky Sabre air defence system, which also includes the Rafael-supplied Surface to Air Missile Centre (SAMOC) command-and-control system and the Saab-supplied Giraffe Agile Multibeam (GAMB) radar, which provides 360° coverage over a range of up to 1,200 km.

The MoD noted that Sky Sabre was recently tested during Exercise ‘Formidable Shield’, a NATO-led exercise held throughout May 2025 at the QinetiQ-run range in the Outer Hebrides. This marked the first live firing of the system in the UK, showcasing its ability to operate seamlessly within NATO’s integrated air and missile defence network.

Sky Sabre, which replaced the UK’s Rapier surface-to-air missile units, was also deployed to Poland under Operation ‘Stifftail’ from April 2022 until December 2024, strengthening NATO’s air defences in eastern Europe.

UK Minister for the Armed Forces Luke Pollard was quoted by the MoD as saying of the latest Land Ceptor order, “We are delivering on the Strategic Defence Review by equipping our armed forces with state-of-the art equipment to help keep us safe. Doubling our deployable Sky Sabre capability will strengthen the UK’s air defences, protect UK forces abroad, and deter our adversaries.”

Lieutenant Colonel James Boutle, Commanding Officer 16th Regiment Royal Artillery, added, “Sky Sabre represents a step change in the UK’s ground-based air defence capability. As the army’s most advanced air defence system, it provides a powerful shield against modern airborne threats, from fast jets to precision-guided weapons and drones.”

The MoD claims that the Sky Sable system, which entered service in 2021, is “hugely accurate” and “able to hit a tennis-ball sized object travelling twice the speed of sound”. It is also capable of intercepting 24 missiles simultaneously.

However, the British Army currently only has seven Sky Sabre systems in service. Although this latest order for six Land Ceptor launchers effectively doubles that capability, the UK armed forces’ overall air defence network is still considerably deficient. The UK has no national ballistic missile defence network, with the Royal Navy the only service that operates a ballistic missile defence capability, while current British Army air defences could only provide localised air defence of the UK mainland.

To address its air defence shortfalls the UK MoD launched the Land Ground Based Air Defence (LGBAD) programme in August 2022, intended to deliver through incremental capability uplifts over the following decade, although even this initiative will only address air defence up to the divisional level.

A UK House of Commons Library report published on 13 June 2025 entitled ‘UK defence in 2025: Integrated air and missile defence’, stated, “Given the changing nature of the aerial threat, the UK is considered by many to be increasingly vulnerable. Several commentators have called for the development of a UK missile defence shield, or ‘Iron Dome’, akin to Israel’s air defence system. Others disagree, with some calling for more targeted measures including the deployment of military assets to protect major population centres and the UK’s critical national infrastructure.

The report additionally warned that “Any measures to increase the UK’s air defence capabilities, either through existing programmes or by procuring off-the-shelf solutions, are likely to be costly, potentially technologically complex and will take time to deliver.”