A £20 million contract to develop a hypersonic target vehicle under the AUKUS partnership demonstrates exactly how major defence investment flows through to small businesses – and places 15 UK SMEs at the forefront of one of the most technically demanding capability development programmes in contemporary defence. The Ministry of Defence has awarded a £20 million contract to Lockheed Martin UK to develop a hypersonic target vehicle capable of replicating threats travelling at five times the speed of sound. Known as Project Bowline, the programme will produce an advanced test target – a hypersonic clay pigeon – designed to allow…
