Defence chiefs order £36million of new missiles to defend Middle East interests after shooting down more than 100 drones

Published: 16:37, 1 June 2026 | Updated: 16:41, 1 June 2026 Stockpiles of Lightweight Multirole Missiles used to intercept Iranian drones will be built up as part of a £36 million deal with arms manufacturers, it was confirmed today. The proven capability LMMs were used by RAF Regiment troops based in northern Iraq to protect a multinational Special Forces base. The secret camp near Erbil was targeted consistently during the conflict. To counter the Iranian threat UK troops launched LMMs from their Rapid Sentry ground-to-air system. The LMM missiles were also fired from Royal Navy Wildcat helicopters protecting the RAF Akrotiri base on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. The missiles are manufactured in Belfast where Thales factories support 700 highly skilled defence industry jobs. The deal was signed off by the UK’s newly appointed National Armaments Director who has a mandate to build up Britain’s stockpiles. Armed Forces Minister Al Carns visited a secret UK base in the Middle East where Rapid Sentry - which fires Lightweight Multirole Missiles - has been deployed Remarkable footage recorded earlier this year showed British troops taking cover as their anti-drone systems intercepted Iranian warheads aimed at their base in Iraq. Shelves have been cleared since 2022 as Britain has led European efforts to support Ukraine following Russia’s illegal invasion. Efforts to protect UK assets and allies in the region involved more than 1,000 British troops including fast jet squadrons and counter-drone teams. Defence Secretary John Healey said: ‘Our defence industry is the backbone of our armed forces. This is our new partnership with industry in action. ‘These interceptor missiles are battle-proven, successfully used by RAF sharp-shooters over recent months. With these LMMs our armed forces will continue to keep the UK and our partners secure in the Middle East and beyond.’ The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.