UK contracts Frankenburg, Cambridge Aerospace, and Greenjets for low-cost air defence
Cambridge Aerospace's Skyhammer interceptor demonstrated at Eurosatory 2026. (Janes/Tamara Rozouvan)
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) awarded three contracts worth a total of GBP3.16 million (USD4.23 million) to Frankenburg Technologies, Cambridge Aerospace, and Greenjets to develop interceptors against unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), according to a 13 July MoD press release.
The interceptors will be developed under the Low-Cost Air Defence Effectors (LCADE) programme delivered by the MoD's National Armaments Director (NAD) Group. Each of the companies has a UK presence, according to the release, and is committed to building a manufacturing capability in the UK. The contracts were delivered by Commercial X, a NAD Group team tasked with accelerating the pace of procurement.
The LCADE programme is part of Europe's Low-Cost Effectors and Autonomous Platforms (LEAP) effort, according to the MoD. Under LEAP, the UK, France, Italy, Poland and Germany are running their own national competitions for low-cost effectors and autonomous systems. The individual national competitions will be followed by a multinational phase.
Frankenburg Technologies is an Estonian startup which produces its flagship missile system called Mark I. The missile system has a range of less than 2 km and was designed to defeat Class 1-3 UAVs, according to the company. Frankenburg also says that the Mark I can be used to target one-way attack (OWA) UAVs with jet engines travelling at speeds of up to 600km/h.
In December 2024, the company pledged to invest EUR50 million in the UK for research and development (R&D) into low-cost rocket motors and open a UK headquarters, according to a UK MoD press release. In September 2025, Kusti Salm, CEO of Frankenburg Technologies told Janes
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