Cambridge Aerospace to deliver air defence systems to UK

The UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) has announced that it is purchasing a significant number of Skyhammer air defence systems from UK-headquartered start-up Cambridge Aerospace, with deliveries starting from May. 

The company has committed to delivering these units to the MOD over the next six months, Cambridge Aerospace said in a media release.

Founded in late 2024, Cambridge Aerospace develops advanced air defence systems designed to deliver high performance at lower cost than traditional solutions. Its first product, Skyhammer, has a range of over 30 km and a top speed of 700 km/h, enabling it to intercept a wide range of aerial threats, including drones and low-speed missiles.

Development of Skyhammer began in January 2025, with initial flight testing achieved within six weeks. Since then, the system has undergone continuous, iterative testing on a weekly basis, ensuring effectiveness across varied operational scenarios and compatibility with a broad range of sensor systems, the media release said.  

“With aerial threats continuing to evolve, it is critical that defence capabilities can scale rapidly and cost-effectively,” Steven Barrett, CEO of Cambridge Aerospace, said. “Skyhammer was designed to meet that need — delivering reliable, high-performance interception at scale. We welcome the opportunity to support the UK with sovereign, rapidly deployable air defence systems.”

“Our government backing for Cambridge Aerospace is a prime case of a veteran-founded UK defence start-up scaling at pace to deliver new interceptor missiles within weeks for our Armed Forced and Gulf partners, and good jobs and security here in the UK,” Defence Secretary John Healey MP said, in a press release issued by the government.