Thales UK has started 2021 with an emphatic win for our Belfast team. After twelve years of successful partnering between Thales and the British Army on the ADAPT programme the UK MoD have announced the contract award for Part B of the Future Air Defence Availability Project (Future ADAPT), worth nearly £100 million. 

Alex Cresswell, CEO and Chairman of Thales UK said:

“This is fantastic news for both Thales in the UK and, in particular, our Belfast site. We are extremely proud of our strong relationship with both the British Army and the Royal Marines. 

“This contract demonstrates the real value created by this type of support model between UK armed forces and industry; we look forward to continuing our long-standing partnership with the MoD, helping deliver good value for the tax payer and retaining this key capability.”

The contract will provide availability and support to the UK’s STARStreak and the new Lightweight Multi-role Missile Short Range Air Defence (SHORAD) Ground Based Air Defence (GBAD) systems, as well as support to live firing training activities at the Royal Artillery Range out to 2026. 

Future ADAPT Part B will allow the British Army and Royal Marines to continue to deploy an enhanced SHORAD capability, at readiness, with absolute confidence in their equipment support and performance. 

John Cunningham, Head Weapons, Evaluation and Capability Assurance (WECA) said:

“We are delighted with the award of this innovative £98.4M contract between the UK MOD and Thales. It guarantees the British Army and Royal Marines can remain at high readiness to respond to crises around the world, enabled by working directly alongside Defence Industry partners maintaining the availability of these world-leading Short Range Air Defence (SHORAD) capabilities. Such a significant investment reinforces our confidence in these systems and demonstrates MOD support to Thales’ ongoing export initiatives.”

Meeting peacetime training needs and the ability to transition rapidly to deployed operations, ADAPT balances pragmatism and innovation to evolve the SHORAD capability to meet Defence’s changing needs. The contract will ensure that both the existing and new SHORAD capability variants continue to achieve the highest levels of availability and industry-delivered support, both in barracks and during training on the firing range. 

The Thales STARStreak SHORAD system entered service with the British Army and Royal Marines in 1997 and has three platform variants; Self-Propelled on the Stormer Vehicle (SP), Lightweight Multiple Launcher (LML) and Shoulder-Launched (SL). 

The Thales ADAPT SHORAD capability supports the UK Military’s 7th Air Defence Group and its capability users, 12th Regiment Royal Artillery, 106th Regiment Royal Artillery and the Air Defence Troop, Royal Marines. Thales has a permanent presence alongside 12th Regiment at their home in Thorney Island which has allowed the Thales ADAPT team, working in close partnership with Defence colleagues, to deliver a widely acclaimed high quality service; ensuring that all SHORAD capability variants receive the equipment care and support they require to meet demanding User requirements for both training and operations. 

Throughout the life of the contract, as a result of multiple efficiencies and innovative approaches, the MoD has saved circa £170M and the programme has supported Thales in Belfast to become a centre of excellence for air defence solutions. Future ADAPT Part B will secure more than 100 jobs over the next six years across Thales UK and the wider supplier chain - with half of those jobs in Belfast.