Such from the missile factory to supply 5,000 air defense missiles to Ukraine

The Thales missile factory in Belfast is to supply 5,000 air defense missiles to Ukraine, the prime minister announced.

The agreement is worth up to £ 1.6 billion and will imply recruiting 200 additional employees.

Thales is a French -owned company that is one of the largest weapons manufacturers in Europe.

The order is for light multirromes (LMM) missiles that Ukrainian forces are already using.

A contract of £ 162 million announced in September last year saw 650 lmm supplied to Ukraine as an initial order to increase production, with the first deliveries in December.

The new order is much larger: it is worth an initial work of £ 1.16 billion with the potential to be added around 500 million £ 500 million of work in collaboration with a partner of the Ukrainian industry.

The associated firm will manufacture launchers and command and control vehicles for missiles in Ukraine.

The United Kingdom Ministry of Defense said it is the largest contract ever received by Thales in Belfast.

The Secretary of Defense, John Healey, said the agreement “would help protect Ukraine against drones and missile attacks and help deter Russian aggression after any end of the fight.”

The contract has been placed by the MODS and support arm defense team on behalf of the Ukrainian government.

It will be funded by a loan raised by the United Kingdom’s export finances (UKEF) after an agreement signed last year to allow Ukraine to collect UKEF’s support to spend with the United Kingdom industry.