Latest news with #Brimstone
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
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.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
British killer drone start-up wins backing from defence giants
A British company behind a drone that will give Army troops 'an Apache gunship in the boot of their car' has secured backing from one of Europe's biggest defence giants. Hydra Drones has developed an unmanned aerial vehicle powered by rotors and up to six rocket boosters, making it capable of carrying up to 400 kilograms in weight and matching the firepower of an Apache helicopter when multiple drones are used simultaneously. The heavy lift capability means it can be fitted out to carry everything from laser-guided Brimstone missiles to heavy machine guns and, one day, potentially injured soldiers. It takes just minutes to launch and can fire missiles capable of hitting tanks 20 miles away. A less capable version of the device has already been trialled by the Army. Bosses now want to complete a prototype and were close to winning funding from the Ministry of Defence before spending freezes last year prompted them to search elsewhere. Hydra has now received an investment – understood to be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds – from Anglo-French-Italian missile manufacturer MBDA, which has also taken a minority shareholding. MBDA is a joint venture between BAE Systems, Airbus and Leonardo and makes Storm Shadow cruise missiles for the UK, as well as the laser-guided, tank-busting Brimstone missile. The cash invested in Hydra is in addition to nearly £1m of finance already raised by the company – which includes several former members of the Armed Forces – from friends, family and private individuals. It will allow Hydra to finish a prototype and push on with further trials this year, probably in September. The Army has been working with the company since 2021 and promoted its drone at the military sector's flagship Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) exhibition in London in 2023. Tom O'Connor, managing director of Hydra Drones and a former aircraft technician for the Army, said five Hydra drones would be able to match the firepower of Apache, reducing the need to put human lives in danger. With a full payload, they should be able to stay airborne for up to 25 minutes, meaning they could be used to safely reinforce frontline troops with significant amounts of ammunition and food supplies. At the same time, the diesel and electric-powered devices could potentially be paired with manned aircraft for a variety of other missions. Mr O'Connor said: 'With this small, cheap platform, the Army will be able to deliver whatever it needs to deliver without using the relatively small number of manned aircraft. Instead, those can be freed up for more specialist tasks. 'It is semi-attritable – so it will not cost crazy money.' The drone is designed to be 'modular', meaning its power can be easily scaled up or down using different numbers of attachable jets, and troops can pack it away easily when moving around. MBDA's investment in Hydra comes as defence companies are investing in heavy-lift drones as cheaper alternatives to helicopters for militaries around the world. The large number of helicopter missions currently move payloads of a few hundred kilograms or less, meaning there is huge potential for drones to become the workhorses for this kind of logistics. BAE Systems last year invested in Malloy Aeronautics, another British company developing a heavy-lift drone. The company's T-650, which can transport payloads of up to 300kg, has been dubbed a 'Land Rover in the sky' and can also use a range of attachments. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
28-04-2025
- Automotive
- Telegraph
British killer drone maker wins backing from defence giant
A British company behind a drone that will give Army troops 'an Apache gunship in the boot of their car' has secured backing from one of Europe's biggest defence giants. Hydra Drones has developed an unmanned aerial vehicle powered by rotors and up to six rocket boosters, making it capable of carrying up to 400 kilograms in weight and matching the firepower of an Apache helicopter when multiple drones are used simultaneously. The heavy lift capability means it can be fitted out to carry everything from laser-guided Brimstone missiles to heavy machine guns and, one day, potentially injured soldiers. It takes just minutes to launch and can fire missiles capable of hitting tanks 20 miles away. A less capable version of the device has already been trialled by the Army. Bosses now want to complete a prototype and were close to winning funding from the Ministry of Defence before spending freezes last year prompted them to search elsewhere. Hydra has now received an investment – understood to be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds – from Anglo-French-Italian missile manufacturer MBDA, which has also taken a minority shareholding. MBDA is a joint venture between BAE Systems, Airbus and Leonardo and makes Storm Shadow cruise missiles for the UK, as well as the laser-guided, tank-busting Brimstone missile. The cash invested in Hydra is in addition to nearly £1m of finance already raised by the company – which includes several former members of the Armed Forces – from friends, family and private individuals. It will allow Hydra to finish a prototype and push on with further trials this year, probably in September. The Army has been working with the company since 2021 and promoted its drone at the military sector's flagship Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) exhibition in London in 2023. Tom O'Connor, managing director of Hydra Drones and a former aircraft technician for the Army, said five Hydra drones would be able to match the firepower of Apache, reducing the need to put human lives in danger. With a full payload, they should be able to stay airborne for up to 25 minutes, meaning they could be used to safely reinforce frontline troops with significant amounts of ammunition and food supplies. At the same time, the diesel and electric-powered devices could potentially be paired with manned aircraft for a variety of other missions. Mr O'Connor said: 'With this small, cheap platform, the Army will be able to deliver whatever it needs to deliver without using the relatively small number of manned aircraft. Instead, those can be freed up for more specialist tasks. 'It is semi-attritable – so it will not cost crazy money.' The drone is designed to be 'modular', meaning its power can be easily scaled up or down using different numbers of attachable jets, and troops can pack it away easily when moving around. MBDA's investment in Hydra comes as defence companies are investing in heavy-lift drones as cheaper alternatives to helicopters for militaries around the world. The large number of helicopter missions currently move payloads of a few hundred kilograms or less, meaning there is huge potential for drones to become the workhorses for this kind of logistics. BAE Systems last year invested in Malloy Aeronautics, another British company developing a heavy-lift drone. The company's T-650, which can transport payloads of up to 300kg, has been dubbed a 'Land Rover in the sky' and can also use a range of attachments. Suzanne Jude, of MBDA, said: 'By supporting agile, pioneering SMEs such as Hybrid Drones, we're not just investing in a product, but in the future of defence ecosystems, strengthening competitive advantage in an increasingly complex global defence landscape.'
New York Times
11-02-2025
- General
- New York Times
More Than 150 World War II Bombs Found Under Playground in England
More than 150 bombs from World War II have been found under a children's playground in northern England, with concerns that more may remain, officials said. The bombs were discovered as a construction project was underway to renovate the Scotts Park playground in Wooler, a small town in Northumberland, England, that is near the border with Scotland. BBC reported that workers had found a 'suspicious object' on Jan. 14 while digging foundations. It turned out to be a practice bomb, or a nonexplosive bomb that is used for training but can still be harmful. The Wooler Parish Council enlisted Brimstone Site Investigations, a company that specializes in unexploded ordnance, to investigate the site, council officials said in a news release. Brimstone arrived on Jan. 23 for what was supposed to be a two-day survey, 'but it soon became apparent that the scale of the problem was far greater than anyone had anticipated,' the parish council wrote. On the first day, Brimstone identified an additional 65 practice bombs, each weighing 10 pounds, as well as smoke cartridges. On the second day of work at the site, Brimstone recovered an additional 90 practice bombs and safely removed them to a designated storage area, the council wrote. The BBC reported that the Ministry of Defense had ordered a full survey of the site. Though the bombs are practice bombs, 'they do still carry a charge' and require removal by specialists, the parish council's release said, adding, 'These have been found with their fuse and contents still intact — and the detonator burster and smoke filling in particular can still be potentially hazardous.' A spokesperson for the Northumberland County Council called the discovery 'unexpected.' Mark Mather, an official in Wooler, told the BBC that about a third of the park had been cleared and it was possible there were more bombs. 'It's quite something to think the children have been playing on bombs,' Mr. Mather said. Mr. Mather said that Wooler had been a training center for the Home Guard, a volunteer citizen militia considered the last line of defense against the Germans during World War II. 'After the war, it looked like they just buried all the ordnance in one of the pits,' Mr. Mather said. The Ministry of Defense said that a team had visited the site twice in January, the BBC reported, but it did not offer further details. The Wooler Parish Council said it hoped contractors could resume work in April once the site had been declared safe. Brimstone, the Ministry of Defense, Mr. Mather, the Wooler Parish Council and the Northumberland County Council did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
