UK: London to lead a $50bn European initiative for long-range missiles
A dozen NATO countries are involved
(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - The United Kingdom will lead the new European initiative within NATO on long-range precision missiles, which will involve an investment of 50 billion dollars over ten years. This was announced in a statement from the British government, which added that Prime Minister Keir Starmer will bring together around ten European partners in Ankara to launch the initiative.
The investment aims to provide NATO with weapons “capable of striking targets at a distance of no less than 300 km and, in some cases, over 2,000 km, with extreme precision”.
This initiative will radically strengthen NATO’s defence and deterrence capabilities and is further evidence of the Allies’ commitment to ensuring a stronger and more European NATO.
London – the statement continues – has already committed 3 billion pounds up to 2030 to precision missile capabilities as part of its 298 billion Defence Investment Plan. This commitment includes the Deep Precision Strike programme (770 million pounds over four years) with Germany to accelerate the development of ‘stealth’ and hypersonic missiles with a range exceeding 2,000 km, which are due to enter service in the 2030s, and participation in the Stratus missile programme with Italia and France (1.4 billion pounds over four years), developed by MBDA.
In collaboration with France and Italia, the United Kingdom is also developing the next generation of the Storm Shadow missile.
