- Cambridge Aerospace's Skyhammer interceptor missiles, with a 30km range and 700km/h top speed, were successfully tested in Jordan days after a multi-million-pound UK MoD contract.
- The first Skyhammer missiles and launchers will be delivered to UK Armed Forces in May, with more to follow within six months of the signed agreement.
Britain’s newest drone-killing missile just proved itself in the desert, according to the latest UK government report.
Cambridge Aerospace’s Skyhammer interceptor missiles and launchers successfully completed trials in Jordan less than two weeks after the UK Ministry of Defence signed a multi-million-pound contract with the veteran-led startup.
The tests took place at one of Deep Element’s defense development facilities in Jordan, in demanding desert conditions that mirror the environment where Shahed-style attack drones have been flying in lethal numbers. Skyhammer was designed specifically to counter that threat — the cheap, slow, one-way attack drones that Iran has supplied to proxies across the region and that have forced Gulf air defenses into a grinding, expensive war of attrition. With a range of 30 kilometers and a maximum speed of 700 km/h, Skyhammer is built to intercept those threats before they reach their targets, at a cost point that makes sustained operations economically viable.
Witnessing the trial was Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard MP, who was in the region for a broader diplomatic and defense engagement covering Kuwait and Jordan. His visit included detailed discussions on regional security, the Strait of Hormuz, and further defense cooperation — all of it set against the backdrop of Iran’s missile and drone campaign that preceded the current ceasefire. Pollard praised the new capability directly, calling the trial “a perfect example of a UK start up innovating, with the backing of this government, to deliver cutting edge technology.”
Steven Barrett, CEO of Cambridge Aerospace, was equally direct about what the trial demonstrated. “We have proven that our interceptors are not only cost-effective but also highly capable and will be able to counter the rising threat posed by aerial attacks,” he said. Barrett also noted the company’s ambitions beyond the immediate contract: “We welcome the support of the UK Ministry of Defence as Cambridge Aerospace looks to protect the UK and its partners with high-performance, rapidly deployable air defence systems.”
The contract carries economic weight alongside its strategic significance. The multi-million-pound deal is generating more than 50 new jobs at Cambridge Aerospace while supporting 125 existing positions — a number the Minister specifically highlighted as evidence of defense spending functioning as an engine for economic growth. The UK government has committed to reaching 2.6 percent of GDP in defense spending from 2027, the largest sustained increase since the end of the Cold War, and contracts like this one are part of how that commitment translates into hardware on the ground and paychecks in British communities.
The first tranche of Skyhammer interceptor missiles and launchers is scheduled to reach the UK Armed Forces in May, with additional missiles and associated launchers to follow within the first six months of the agreement. That timeline — contract signed, desert trial completed, first delivery within weeks — is precisely the kind of acquisition velocity that defense reformers have been demanding for years as the gap between threat emergence and capability fielding has become a strategic liability.
In Kuwait, Pollard met with the country’s Minister of Defence, Sheikh Abdullah Ali Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, and senior officials, paying tribute to Kuwaiti Armed Forces and UK personnel who worked together to protect civilians and critical infrastructure during Iran’s drone and missile campaign. The UK already operates Rapid Sentry — a ground-based air defense missile system — and the ORCUS early warning system in Kuwait, with British personnel running both platforms to detect inbound drones and enable rapid response. The relationship is operational, not merely diplomatic.
In Jordan, before the Skyhammer trial, Pollard met with Major General Yousef Alhnaity, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Their discussions centered on the UK-Jordan defense relationship and shared security commitments in the region. Prior to the ceasefire, UK jets flew defensive missions in the region, including over Jordanian airspace, underscoring the depth of operational cooperation that underpins the political relationship.
The Ministry of Defence is also working to accelerate the broader export pipeline. Through the National Armaments Director Group, the MoD has established a new task force specifically designed to speed up financing and licensing for exports to Gulf partners, manage the impact of regional conflict on the UK defense supply chain, and gather requirements for stock replenishment. The creation of that task force is an acknowledgment that demand from regional partners is real, pressing, and not being met fast enough by existing processes.