Supersonic missile ready to be deployed

IT'S COMPLETED EXTENSIVE TRIALS AND IS READY FOR ACTION

- By ALEX DRISCOLL

Martlet is fired from a Wildcat attack helicopter during Exercise Wildfire in the South of France

(ROYAL NAVY)

THE latest supersonic missile is ready to be deployed to the front lines after completing trials involving various tests and exercises across autumn.

Exercise Wildfire was held between September 29 and October 2 and focused on a Lightweight Multirole Missile, known as Martlet by the Royal Navy, which blasted drones out of the sky and from the surface off the Welsh coast, and later in the French Mediterranean, leaving behind “nothing but wreckage”.

Launched from Wildcat helicopters, Martlet can accelerate up to one and a half times the speed of sound, and despite its compact size and cost-effectiveness, it is highly manoeuvrable and remarkably lethal, as proven during these demanding trials. The missile was produced in Belfast.

The missile will be supplied to the Indian Army under a recently announced £350 million deal, providing a significant boost to the UK defence industry and sustaining 700 jobs in Northern Ireland. Hundreds of the same missile have recently been delivered to Ukraine five months ahead of schedule under the UK gifting programme.