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Guided Weapons

Answer

Building on previous research and development, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has established a Programme Team - Team Hypersonics (UK) - to cohere MOD, industry and academia around the development of a sovereign hypersonic offensive strike capability.

Team Hypersonics (UK) has established the Hypersonic Technologies and Capability Development Framework (HTCDF). This bespoke £1 billion Commercial Agile Route to Market is the mechanism to facilitate a spiralled approach to technology development through to a sovereign capability. Over 120 suppliers including defence primes, small and medium enterprises (SME) and academic institutions are now signed up. Hypersonics is included in UK contribution to AUKUS Pillar 2, collaborating trilaterally to increase the pace of innovation alongside our allies as part of the Hypersonic Flight Test and Experiment Project Arrangement (HyFLiTE).

With these enablers in place, the testing of critical sovereign-designed and manufactured missile sub-system technologies continues, including a novel hypersonic propulsion system. Several contracts have been awarded and several invitations to tender have been released to develop a range of technologies. These contracts and future ITTs will allow the development of technical demonstrators and onwards into a capability.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

48869

Session

2024-26

Related items

Military Aircraft
Monday, 8 September 2025
Written questions
House of Commons

Subjects

Guided weapons

Link

View this Written question on www.parliament.uk