UK and India Sign £350m Missile Deal to Boost Defence Ties

Britain has confirmed a £350 million military assistance contract with India for supplying Lightweight Multirole Missiles (LMMs) to the Indian Army, an important defence and trade deal furthers bilateral defence ties.  

The agreement was publicly disclosed on Thursday, during British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's trip to Mumbai, to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and is intended to highlight the further development of strategic and commercial partnerships between the two nations.  

The UK government state that the missiles will be produced by Thales in Northern Ireland, creating around 700 jobs in an existing facility that produces the same weapon for Ukraine. Officials say that the agreement is a forward step in the deepening of cooperation on complex weapon types and consistent with the more comprehensive defence partnership that London and New Delhi are negotiating.  

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Prime Minister Starmer said that the agreement was consistent with his wider ambition to "use our defence sector to drive growth in the UK economy". Starmer has promoted defence exports over the past year and increased spending to meet NATO commitments, following numerous multi-billion dollar deals recently, including a $13.5 billion contract with Norway to purchase frigates. 

In addition to the missile deal, the UK also announced progress on a joint naval technology initiative, signing the next phase of a £250 million project to develop electric-powered engines for naval ships. The twin announcements highlight the growing scope of the UK-India defence partnership, reinforcing both nations’ ambitions to collaborate on advanced military and industrial innovation.