UK spends $254 million on long-range Precision Strike Missile programme

LONDON, ⁠July 7 (Reuters) - Britain said on ​Tuesday it would strengthen the Army's long-range capabilities by spending £190 million ($254.22 million) ​on ‌the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) programme, buying a weapon which can ⁠neutralise targets up to 500 kilometres ⁠away.

The country's outgoing Prime ​Minister Keir Starmer is at the NATO summit in Ankara on Tuesday, where he wants to convince U.S. President Donald ​Trump ‌and other countries in the western military alliance that UK defence spending is heading in the right direction.

The PrSM procurement will strengthen Britain's contribution to NATO deterrence, ​Britain's Ministry of Defence said in a statement, adding that ‌the first deliveries could be received in 2027.

The acquisition was funded by Britain's Defence ‌Investment Plan which has been criticised for not plotting a route to spending 3.5% of GDP on core defence, ​a NATO target set last year after Trump said Europe should spend ‌more on defending themselves.

The next-generation supersonic ballistic missiles are built by Lockheed Martin and the programme is a collaboration between ⁠the U.S. ⁠and Australia. Britain said it ‌could join work to further develop the missile in future.

Britain remains committed ​to other ​weapons projects with European partners such as ‌Deep Precision Strike and European Long Range Strike Approach, the statement said. ($1 = 0.7474 pounds) (Reporting by Muvija M; writing by Sarah Young, Editing by Sam Tabahriti)

Lockheed Martin