Thales missile factory to supply 5,000 air defence missiles to Ukraine

The Prime Minister announced that the missile factory in Belfast is to supply 5,000 air defense missiles to Ukraine.

The value of the deal is 1.6 billion pounds and will include the employment of 200 additional employees.

Thales is a French company owned by one of the largest weapons manufacturers in Europe.

It is dedicated to the LMMS missiles already used by the Ukrainian forces.

A 162 million pounds contract in September of last year witnessed that 650 LMMS was provided with Ukraine as initial order to increase production, with the first delivery operations in December.

The new demand is much larger: it deserves 1.16 billion pounds, with the possibility of adding about 500 million pounds of work that must be added in cooperation with a partner in the Ukrainian industry.

The partner company will manufacture bombers, driving and missiles in Ukraine.

The UK Ministry of Defense said it was the largest contract received by Talis in Belfast.

Defense Secretary John Heili said that the deal “will help protect Ukraine from drones and missiles and help deter more Russian aggression after any end to fight.”

The contract was placed by the defense equipment for the purchasing arm in the Ministry of Defense and supported on behalf of the Ukrainian government.

It will be funded by a loan written by the UK export financing (UKF) after an agreement signed last year to allow Ukraine to benefit from support at a value of 3.5 billion pounds from UKF to spend with the United Kingdom industry.