Developing the UK’s First Hypersonic Missile

August 1, 2024

Defense Equipment & Support (DE&S)
Bristol, UK
0117-913-0893
des.mod.uk

Britain’s development of a sovereign hypersonic strike capability is taking a substantial leap forward with a new agreement to facilitate collaboration on cutting edge tech.

Ninety total organizations – large and small – from across industry and academia have secured a place on a £1 billion transformational Hypersonic Technologies & Capability Development Framework (HTCDF) agreement set up to rapidly develop advanced hypersonic missile capabilities for the U.K.

The organizations accepted onto the eight-lot Framework, which is led by MoD’s Team Hypersonics (U.K.), will now be eligible to bid for contracts; the maximum value of the Framework across the next seven years is up to £1 billion.

The award of contracts on the Framework will be managed by commercial experts at DE&S.

Project delivery has been designed with pace in mind, with the Framework adopting mechanisms which align procurement and development objectives, preventing the traditional challenges that impede capability acquisition.

The approach to developing an agile route to market is part of a broader drive across MoD to increase the speed of Defense procurement.

The announcement follows the Prime Minister’s statement setting out plans to spend 2.5 percent of GDP on Defense by 2030 – meaning an additional £75 billion spent over the next six years – the biggest strengthening of the U.K.’s national Defense in a generation.

The Framework was announced late last year after the U.K. Government indicated its intent to accelerate the development of a sovereign U.K. Hypersonic Strike Capability, whilst bolstering AUKUS collaboration with Australia and the United States.

The HTCDF has been designed to provide a responsive, agile route to market to facilitate capability realization at pace. Uniquely it will be used to select suppliers to deliver services and supplies to support the research, development and testing of hypersonic technologies right through to a capability.

Intrinsically linked with MoD’s ambition to transform acquisition, the Framework enables focused research to be spirally developed through varying Technical Readiness Levels (TRLs) onwards to a capability. The maturity of the services and supplies provided under the resulting Call Off contracts will be TRL 1 – 9.

Alongside established weapons manufacturers and academic institutions, nearly half of the suppliers will be small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the vast majority of which are based in the U.K. This diverse supply base will enable MoD to leverage the strength and breadth of U.K. and international talent and innovation across the Defense enterprise.

The HTCDF will also re-open to new suppliers every 6 to 12 months to ensure that MoD can continue to draw upon new technologies and emerging market capabilities. Opportunities to join the Framework will be advertised on the U.K. MoD Defense Sourcing Portal (DSP).

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