The UK MoD’s Project Brakestop has produced three candidate low-cost, long-range, ITAR-free strike weapons that could go on to be produced for Ukraine.
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed on 22 June 2026 that three UK companies – MBDA UK, MGI Engineering and Rotron Aerospace – have been awarded follow-on contracts under Project Brakestop: the MoD’s initiative to have UK industry develop low-cost, long-range strike weapons for Ukraine. A key part of the project is to produce weapons that are free of US content and thus cannot be prevented from being supplied to Ukraine by US International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).
Of the 27 bids received after Project Brakestop was initiated by the MoD’s Taskforce Kindred in November 2024, six British companies were subsequently awarded contracts worth around GBP 5 million (EUR 5.8 million) each to design and build prototype weapons for testing in just seven months.
The requirements for the weapon set by the MoD were as follows:
Further to these requirements, the manufacturer would have to have the ability to produce at least 20 weapons per month within months of a production order.
By December 2025, however, only three suppliers remained and it was these bidders who progressed to flight testing at the MoD’s range in the Outer Hebrides from December 2025 and have now been awarded follow-on contracts.
MBDA UK, producer of the UK’s Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missile, is pitching its Crossbow One-Way Effector (Heavy). This is intended to “deliver affordable strike in the deep”, according to MBDA, meaning out to 800 km and beyond, with a payload of up to 300 kg. Designed to operate off GNSS, but with an anti-jam capability, the weapon features an artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled, image-based navigation system.
“That really will make the difference in terms of its ability to operate in those GNSS-denied environments,” an MBDA executive told this author in September 2025, “so it’s the ability to match satellite imagery or Google Maps-type imagery with its location in terms of the IR [infra-red] camera, so a day and night capability that it will have on board.”
MGI Engineering, which has a background in high-performance systems and rapid prototyping across the aerospace, defence and automotive sectors, including Formula One, is offering the TigerShark deep strike platform, which it has developed in close strategic partnership with US/European autonomy software specialist Auterion. The TigerShark is designed to be capable of reaching speeds of 750 km/h, carrying a 300 kg payload and striking targets at ranges exceeding 1,000 km.
According to the MGI Engineering website, the TigerShark’s guidance suite “combines inertial navigation with GPS-free terrain mapping for reliable operation in GPS-denied and spoofed environments”.
Rotron Aerospace, a UK subsidiary of Florida-headquartered Ondas Inc, is offering its SkyLance one-way effector, which, unlike the other two turbojet-powered competitors under Project Brakestop, is propelled by a pusher 1.5 m three-blade composite propeller driven by one of the company’s highly efficient rotary engines (along with rocket-assisted take-off).
The Skylance has a cruise speed of 600 km/h, a maximum speed of 650 km/h and a configurable payload capability of up to 300 kg. It is guided by GNSS (plus continuous correction of the inertial navigation system through map matching), with targets identified by an NVIDEA compute unit running proprietary target acquisition software an fixed opto-electronics for continuous visual and infrared sensing.
Ondas COO Patrick Huston told Warsight at Eurosatory 2026 on 17 June that, while the Skylance is slightly slower than its competitors, its rotary-engine propulsion system means that it can trade some of its warhead payload for greater range. In this way, while the SkyLance can carry a 300 kg warhead to a range of 1,200 km, it could alternatively carry a 150 kg warhead as far as 2,500 km, for example.
Rotron Aerospace officials also told Warsight at Eurosatory 2026 that the SkyLance is about 20% of the cost of a Tomahawk air-launched cruise missile and that its rotary engine propulsion could give it an advantage amid the possibility of a shortage of turbojet availability.
The second phase of Project Brakestop, under which MBDA UK, MGI Engineering and Rotron Aerospace have been issued contracts worth GBP 15 million, covers further development of their bids and the production of 15 improved effectors each, alongside launchers and support vehicles.
Further testing will then take place in the UK, followed by additional trials overseas, including in Ukraine.
The 225 kg warhead that the systems must be capable of carrying has already been successfully developed and tested by another UK company, the UK MoD has confirmed, although the company has not been named.
