UK air and missile defences

The conflict in Ukraine and recent Iranian attacks on Israel have highlighted the importance of air and missile defence capabilities for territorial defence. 

The UK adopts a multi-layered approach to air and missile defence of the UK homeland.

The UK is part of NATO’s Integrated Air and Missile Defence (NATO IAMD) system. It also has significant air defence assets of its own which can be deployed for localised defence of the UK mainland, should it be required. That capability is supported by an extensive early warning radar network in the UK, which also forms a part of the NATO IAMD and the US missile defence system.

UK air defence capability

The Royal Air Force (RAF) maintains a Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) force whose objective is to protect UK airspace. RAF crews and Typhoon aircraft at RAF Lossiemouth and RAF Coningsby are held at permanent readiness to respond to any potential threat. As well as defending UK airspace, the UK is also committed to NATO air policing in eastern Europe.

The army’s Sky Sabre medium-range, ground-based, mobile air defence system entered service in 2021. It is capable of engaging fighter aircraft, attack helicopters, drones, and laser guided smart bombs. Sky Sabre has been deployed to the Falkland Islands and, more recently, to Poland as part of measures to shore up the eastern flank of the NATO alliance.

The Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyer primarily has an air defence mission to protect the fleet from air attack and could be deployed in UK territorial waters for mainland defence if required. It is equipped with Sea Viper and Sea Ceptor air defence missiles. An upgrade to the Sea Viper missile is expected into service in 2028. The Type 45 is considered to have limited ballistic missile defence utility (BMD), however, given the fleet size of the Type 45 (six vessels) and the short range of its radar.

Land Ground Based Air Defence (LGBAD) programme

In August 2022 the Ministry of Defence launched the Land GBAD programme (PDF). The project is currently examining options for the procurement of a fully integrated air defence system, capable of operating across all military domains (air, sea, and land), over the next ten years.

The programme is not an anti-ballistic missile defence shield for the UK, although defence of the UK mainland is expected to be part of the programme’s considerations.

Research and development

Research and development into future air and missile defence capabilities, including the capabilities required to address evolving hypersonic missile threats and directed energy weapons/ laser technologies, is being undertaken through the UK Missile Defence Centre (MDC) and the MOD’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL). Counter-hypersonic capability is also being pursued through pillar two of the US-UK-Australia AUKUS partnership.

NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defence

As a NATO ally, the UK is part of NATO’s Integrated Air and Missile Defence system (NATO IAMD).

A continuous mission, NATO IAMD protects the territory, populations, and forces of the NATO Member States, including the UK. It is comprised of a network of national and NATO systems including sensors and early warning radar, command and control assets and weapon systems.

It has two peacetime missions:

• NATO air policing, which has the aim of securing NATO airspace.
• NATO ballistic missile defence. NATO BMD is purely defensive and a core task of NATO’s collective defence posture. Its mission is to protect NATO territory and populations from ballistic missile attack.

In times of crisis NATO IAMD is an integral part of NATO’s crisis response.

In October 2024, the UK established the Diamond Initiative (Delivering Integrated Air and Missile Operational Networked Defences) with NATO allies which will step up cooperation on the integration of missile defences across the NATO alliance. The UK is also participating in the European long-range strike approach programme to develop new long-range missiles that will contribute to the collective air defence of the alliance.

European Sky Shield initiative

In October 2022 ten NATO allies, and Finland (which has since joined the alliance), signed an agreement to boost European air defence capabilities called the European Sky Shield initiative (ESSI). In February 2023 Denmark and Sweden also joined the project. Switzerland and Austria, two historically neutral countries, indicated their intention to join the project in July 2023. A further Memorandum of Understanding was signed in October 2023. Twenty-one European countries, not all of whom are in NATO, are now part of the project. 

Led by Germany, the aim of the initiative is to strengthen European integrated air and missile defence through the common acquisition of air defence equipment and missiles by European nations.

The Letter of Intent on participation in ESSI was signed by the UK in 2022. At the time the MOD said that were “no current plans for the UK to procure air defence systems via the ESSI”, but that the UK was “looking to identify opportunities with its European partners” that will support the UK’s existing Sky Sabre system and its new Land Ground Based Air Defence programme.

In a Joint Communique following the signing of the UK-Germany Trinity House Defence Cooperation Agreement in October 2024, the MOD said that it would work closely with Germany on integrated air and missile defence, including through the ESSI.

Forthcoming Strategic Defence Review

Integrated air and missile defence will be considered in the government’s forthcoming Strategic Defence Review.

In a September 2024 report on the implications of the war in Ukraine, the House of Lords International Relations and Defence Committee said that the government should “pay greater attention to homeland defence” and that integrated air and missile defence, in close collaboration with European NATO allies should be high on the list of priorities for the government.