Tank-busting missile factory in Bolton to double in size as Europe rearms
A British factory that makes tank-busting missiles is set to double in size as growing global tensions fuel a push towards rearmament across Europe.
MBDA, the Anglo-European defence giant, said on Thursday it was investing £200m to expand its Bolton plant, creating 700 jobs.
The site manufactures the Brimstone, Meteor and Sea Venom missiles for the British armed forces as well as other Nato military customers.
Brimstone is an advanced 'fire and forget' missile that can locate targets using homing radar technology.
The air-to-surface weapon costs £175,000 per shot and is usually fired by Typhoon jets at heavy armour such as tanks – although it can also be laser-guided to the target by friendly troops on the ground.
Meanwhile, Meteor is a cutting-edge, long-range missile that can travel at speeds upwards of Mach 4 – around 3,000 miles per hour – to take out airborne targets such as enemy aircraft.
Both weapons are made by staff at MBDA's facility in Bolton.
MBDA is jointly owned by France-based Airbus, Britain's BAE Systems and Italy's Leonardo, following the merger of their respective missile businesses in 2001.
The company is also the manufacturer of the Storm Shadow cruise missile, which has also been supplied to Ukraine and boasts a range of 150 miles. It is made at MBDA's other UK factory, in Stevenage.
The company's announcement comes after The Telegraph revealed that Britain is in talks with European allies to create a £100bn 'defence, security and resilience bank', which would allow them to pool purchases of weapons and other equipment.
Western countries are scrambling to rearm and replenish munitions stockpiles amid concerns about the threat from Russia and China. Inventories have dwindled following donations of kit to Ukraine.
Chris Allam, managing director of MBDA UK, said: 'We are proud and excited to be building a world class engineering and manufacturing campus in the north-west of England, the centre of complex weapons manufacturing for the UK.'
He added that a 10-year deal with the Government to supply complex weapons gave the company 'the confidence to invest and better support the UK and its allies'.
The expansion was welcomed by Jonathan Reynolds, the Business Secretary, who visited the Bolton factory on Thursday.
He said: 'This is great news for Bolton and another win for our world-class defence sector, which will create hundreds of good, well-paid jobs and ensure the UK continues to lead the way on the cutting-edge technologies of the future.'
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