New Delhi: India and United Kingdom (UK) are in the final stages of concluding an Inter-Governmental Agreement to deliver hundreds of Lightweight Multirole Missiles, commercially known as the Martlet, to the Indian Army. Manufactured by Thales UK at its Belfast facility in Northern Ireland, the acquisition expands a previous framework outlined earlier. While earlier estimates pegged the defence cooperation package at approximately £350 million, British defence officials confirmed that India’s required quantity has grown substantially to run into several hundred units.
Expanding the Arsenal Against Aerial Threats
This expanded acquisition places India just behind Ukraine in global operational orders for the weapon. To counter ongoing Russian military operations, Kyiv received publicly committed allocations exceeding 6,000 Martlet missiles alongside specialised RapidRanger multi-round launchers under multi-billion-pound packages.
The Indian decision to scale-up the Martlet order reflects a strategic shift across modern battlefields, where cheap, mass-produced single-use attack drones, loitering munitions and unmanned aerial systems have fundamentally altered tactical air defence. Utilising multi-million-dollar long-range interceptor missiles against inexpensive target drones is financially unsustainable. The Martlet provides a cost-effective, precision-guided alternative designed to fill this critical operational gap for frontline units.
Weighing approximately 13 kilogrames with an operational length of 1.3 metres, the Martlet travels at speeds around Mach 1.5 and features a combat range exceeding six kilometres. The system relies on laser beam-riding guidance rather than an expensive active seeker embedded inside the projectile. This design allows infantry forces to guide the missile with extreme precision while maintaining low production costs and minimising collateral damage.
Beyond man-portable shoulder-launched configurations, the Martlet boasts significant operational versatility. It can be integrated onto light armoured tracked or wheeled vehicles, mounted on naval vessels to neutralise fast attack craft, or deployed from military helicopters. British forces have deployed the missile on Royal Navy Wildcat helicopters during operational deployments in the Red Sea and the Bay of Bengal, proving its utility against small surface craft and unmanned aerial platforms.
The impending procurement agreement builds upon broader defence-industrial initiatives established between London and New Delhi. In early 2025, defence firm Thales teamed up with India’s state-owned Bharat Dynamics Limited to manufacture Laser Beam Riding Man-Portable Air Defence Systems, following prior deliveries of High Velocity STARStreak missiles.
By securing a dedicated supply of Martlet missiles, India continues to modernise its short-range air defences, ensuring tactical formations remain well-equipped against evolving low-altitude drone threats along complex border regions.
Defence industrial cooperation between India and the United Kingdom has evolved into a strategic partnership focused on joint development, technology transfer and co-production. Grounded in initiatives like the 2030 Roadmap and executed through mechanisms like the dedicated UK-India Defence Partnership, this collaboration aims to integrate Indian manufacturing into global defence supply chains while strengthening India’s domestic capabilities under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat programme.
The Bharat Dynamics Limited and Thales Partnership
The partnership between Indian state-owned defence enterprise Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) and UK-based defence firm Thales serves as a primary pillar of this industrial alignment.
Within short-range air defence, Thales and BDL formalised a Teaming Agreement to manufacture Very Short-Range Air Defence (VSHORAD) systems in India. BDL was brought into Thales’ global supply chain to manufacture up to 60% of the STARStreak high-velocity missile system locally. The two companies signed a major supply agreement for Laser Beam Riding Man-Portable Air Defence Systems (LBRM) to equip the Indian Ministry of Defence with high-velocity air defence capabilities.
Building upon this air defence ecosystem, the partnership extended into the supply and co-assembly of Lightweight Multirole Missiles (Martlet/LMM). The arrangement allows BDL to handle domestic assembly, integration and servicing while facilitating local component manufacturing that feeds back into Thales’ primary production center in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Additionally, BDL and Thales signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish manufacturing infrastructure in India for precision-strike 70mm Laser-Guided Rockets (FZ275 LGR). Designed for deployment on Indian platforms – such as the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH-WSI) and Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) – this initiative grants BDL export rights for key components across the global market.
Beyond short-range air defence and tactical missiles, broader India-UK defence manufacturing ties extend across naval, air and research domains. In naval propulsion, the UK’s Royal Navy and India’s Ministry of Defence established a Joint Working Group for Electric Propulsion.
This includes a Statement of Intent to co-develop Integrated Full Electric Propulsion (IFEP) systems for India’s next-generation warships. In the aero-engine sector, Rolls-Royce collaborates with India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on joint design and manufacturing IP transfers for advanced fighter aircraft engines.
Finally, in cyber and space, joint initiatives enable Indian defence start-ups and MSMEs to partner with UK defence primes to co-develop niche technologies in cyber defence, maritime domain awareness and radar software.
