UK MoD awards Lockheed Martin £20m hypersonic target contract
The UK Ministry of Defence has awarded Lockheed Martin UK a £20 million contract to develop a hypersonic target under Project Bowline. The vehicle will travel at speeds above Mach 5 and will be used for missile‑defence testing, including a live flight demonstration scheduled for 2027 at the MOD Hebrides Range.
The contract is expected to support about 63 jobs in Bedfordshire and will inject £2 million into the UK supply chain, with more than one‑third directed to British small‑and‑medium‑sized enterprises. It is being delivered through the MOD’s STORM (Science and Technology Oriented Research and Development in Missile Defence) framework managed by the UK Missile Defence Centre.
Project Bowline also forms part of the AUKUS Pillar 2 HyFliTE cooperation, linking the United Kingdom with the United States and Australia on hypersonic and counter‑hypersonic technologies. National Armaments Director Rupert Pearce said the programme will help keep the UK ahead of rapidly evolving hypersonic threats.
Entities: AUKUS · Lockheed Martin UK · Project Bowline · Rupert Pearce · UK Ministry of Defence
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [○ 1 SOURCE] National Armaments Director Rupert Pearce said delivering Project Bowline will help keep the UK ahead of hypersonic threats. (Quote from Rupert Pearce)
- [● 2 SOURCES] Project Bowline is part of the MOD’s STORM framework managed by the UK Missile Defence Centre. (Project Bowline program description)
- [● 3 SOURCES] The UK Ministry of Defence awarded Lockheed Martin UK a £20 million contract to develop a hypersonic target (Project Bowline). (Lockheed Martin UK contract announcement)
- [● 2 SOURCES] Project Bowline will have a live flight demonstration in 2027 at the MOD Hebrides Range. (Project Bowline details)
- [● 2 SOURCES] £2 million of the contract will go to the UK supply chain, with more than one‑third to UK SMEs. (Lockheed Martin UK contract details)
- [● 2 SOURCES] The hypersonic target is designed to travel at speeds above Mach 5. (Project Bowline description)
- [● 2 SOURCES] The contract will support about 63 jobs in Bedfordshire. (Lockheed Martin UK contract announcement)
- [● 2 SOURCES] Project Bowline is included in AUKUS Pillar 2 HyFliTE cooperation with the United States and Australia. (AUKUS cooperation description)