PM announces contract for 200 Starstreak missiles

Deal between MoD and Thales will sustain 475 jobs in Northern Ireland

The Ministry of Defence is to buy a further 200 Starstreak missiles as part of a multi-million-pound contract with Thales UK.

The high velocity missiles will be produced by Thales at the firm's plant in Belfast, where 475 jobs will be sustained by the deal.

The missiles form part of the UK’s ground-based air defence capability and were used to protect London during the Olympic Games in 2012.

Defence minister Philip Dunne said: “We saw during the Olympics last year how important our air defence capability is.

“This contract for 200 extra Starstreak missiles will not only provide our Armed Forces with a highly capable weapon, but also secures hundreds of highly skilled defence jobs in Northern Ireland and should provide confidence to the export markets of the Starstreak system.”

The Starstreak system, which has the capability to counter threat from fighter aircraft, helicopters and unmanned air systems, has been been in use in UK since 1995 and will remain in-service until at least 2025.

The order of additional 200 missiles is due to be delivered by June 2014.

Starstreak facts and figures

• Missile range: Minimum 1500m, maximum 5500m
• Flight time: 8 seconds
• Guidance: Semi-automatic, line of sight, beam riding
• Time into action: SP - less than 10 seconds to 10 minutes. LML - 2 minutes. Single missile - less than 10 seconds
• Ceiling: 1000m
• Missile speed: Mach 3