UK to design new missile boats for Ukraine

[AN/AWW-14(V)]

According to an article shared by Kyiv Post, new missile boats for the Ukrainian Navy will be designed in the UK as part of a previously signed memorandum on re-equipping the Naval Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

“These missile boats are designed specifically for Ukraine, so they will be original and will have a length of approximately 50 to 65 meters, which will provide a speed of 40 knots. It is planned to install artillery systems and missiles on them. It depends, among other things, on what kind of missiles are needed. And these can be short- or long-range missiles. This is the issue that British companies are considering right now. But these will be missiles of a new class, specially designed for Ukraine by the British industry,” Defence Attaché at the British Embassy Tim Woods said in an interview with the Day newspaper.

He said that the first four boats would be constructed in the UK. At the same time, Ukrainian shipbuilders will be able to observe construction, learn and train.

Woods said that the second part, namely, four missile boats, will be constructed in Ukraine. It will be great for Ukrainian shipbuilding and the Navy so that these capabilities will be available in Ukraine.

The attaché believes the construction of the first ship will start in early 2022.

Woods also said another option that their study has not yet been formalized; it is the joint design of the British industry’s warships with the Ukrainian design bureau in Mykolaiv.

https://navalpost.com/uk-to-provide-new-missile-boats-for-the-ukrainian-navy/

 

[Grey Havoc]

Who exactly is going to pay for these, though?

 

[uk 75]

I wonder if we are going to design something able to sneak under bridges.

Kerch Strait incident - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[kaiserbill]

From building and/or designing aircraft carriers to ICBM's to this.
Doesn't make sense.
Unless, as Grey Havocs comment makes me wonder, it's an opportunity for....you know....

 

[Hood]

I assume it will be another of the Vita/Barzan/Roussen lineage from BAE Systems (the Vita being a VT design originally of course).

 

[tequilashooter]

Какие ракеты планирует получить Украина от Великобритании

Великобритания готова продать Украине корабельные и авиационные ракеты с головками самонаведения по цене 100 тыс. фунтов стерлингов за единицу

naukatehnika.com

What missiles does Ukraine plan to receive from the UK #Флот Roman Barsky Today at 19:37 75 0 The UK is ready to sell Ukraine ship and aircraft missiles with homing heads at a price of 100 thousand pounds per unit Yesterday, the British edition of The Times published insider information that the UK will sell surface-to-surface missiles for Ukrainian patrol boats and air-to-surface missiles for Ukrainian aircraft. The cost of one Brimstone rocket is 100 thousand pounds sterling. MBDA PHOTOS The report also mentions that these will be Brimstone missiles developed and produced by the international company MBDA UK, which specializes in the manufacture of missile munitions. At the same time, the British edition does not indicate when exactly this delivery will occur. At the same time, the report notes that the British government has concerns that Russia is planning a winter military operation against Ukraine, which could lead to an escalation of tensions in the Donbas and will have unpredictable consequences for the security of all of Europe. Therefore, we can assume that the sale of these missiles will take place soon. Background On October 14, Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK Vadym Prystaiko said that in the near future Ukraine will purchase two operating ships from the UK, which will be armed with British missiles and will immediately become part of our Navy. And in early August, he reported that within the framework of the memorandum signed on June 21 between the two countries, British and Ukrainian engineers are working together to develop a model of a new missile boat for Ukraine based on the British P50U project. "The first two boats of this project will have British missiles. But in the future, we plan to place domestic weapons there, primarily the Neptune missile system, "Prystaiko said then. In turn, the attaché for defense of the British Embassy in Ukraine Tim Woods noted that the British have nothing against Ukrainian missiles, but there is a technical problem that needs to be worked on. "We are watching the Neptune, which Ukraine is developing and which, after full commissioning, will be a combat-ready missile system. But the current size of these boats does not allow to place "Neptune". Therefore, we had to go for a smaller, but very powerful modern missile system, "Woods explained. It is not yet known whether the report of The Times and the statements of Prystaiko and Woods about the same missiles, but it seems that it is. That is, surface-to-surface ship missiles will soon be sold to Ukraine along with two boats, and air-to-surface missiles will be sold separately for use by Ukrainian combat aircraft. Although it is also possible that we are talking about various projects and surface-to-surface missiles will be sold to Ukraine separately and regardless of boats - for use on the means already available in the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. What missiles are we talking about? The Brimstone surface-to-surface missile mentioned in The Times news is a high-tech homing supersonic missile developed by the international MDBA consortium for British combat aircraft. The missile entered service with the country in 2005 and was widely used by the British Air Force in operations in Afghanistan, Libya, and since December 2015 in Syria. Brimstone is also now used by the Saudi Air Force. In 2017, plans were announced to transfer it to the Qatari Air Force, but so far this has not been done. The Brimstone missile has an active radar homing head, which allows it to hit moving targets with great accuracy. In addition, the possibility of laser guidance is provided. The total mass of the rocket is 49 kg with a length of 1.8 meters. The maximum launch range can reach 11.2 km with a maximum altitude of 6 km. Unlike similar systems, the warhead of the Brimstone missile is arranged on a tandem principle, which provides a more effective defeat of targets with modern types of armor. At the same time, a relatively small affected area allows you to reduce collateral damage. As for surface-to-surface missiles (they are also called surface-to-surface missiles, although this definition is not very accurate, since these missiles can also be fired from floating platforms and hit surface targets) for Ukrainian boats, everything is not so unambiguous. After all, the UK does not produce specialized ship-type missiles. At the same time, on the official website of the MDBA consortium, it was possible to find information that the already mentioned Brimstone rocket, in addition to air carriers, is also suitable for deployment on a wide range of ground and other platforms. Therefore, it is possible that these missiles will be adapted for launch from boats and will arrive in Ukraine together with aviation. And the Ukrainian army already has experience in using air and even anti-aircraft missiles against surface targets. You can recall how in the fall of 2018 at a military training ground in the Odessa region, the Armed Forces of Ukraine worked out the coastal defense system with the help of the modernized S-125 anti-aircraft missile system. The result: eight launches - eight destroyed surface targets.

 

[tequilashooter]

credit for image on left corner

 

[that_person]

This aged well

 

[Hood]

Locking this to avoid any bypassing of the Ukrainian news locks elsewhere on the forum.
It will be sometime, if ever we'll hear anything concrete on this programme and for now we can safely presume it will remain a project.