To fulfill the British government’s pledge to triple the production of LMM Martlet multipurpose guided missiles - critical for the Armed Forces of Ukraine - the Thales plant in Belfast primarily requires more workers rather than an expansion of its production facilities.
Yet, hiring additional personnel is proving difficult, mainly due to bureaucratic obstacles that hinder both the British defense industry and potential employees. This was reported by the UK Defense Journal.
Read more: How 650 British LMM Missiles Will Bolster Ukraine’s Defense
According to the publication, Julian David, CEO of techUK (the UK Technology Trade Association), raised these concerns during a parliamentary committee meeting on mobilizing the British defense industry in response to russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.
He stated that the UK defense industry would need at least 2–3 years just to increase its workforce by 10%, given its persistent struggle to attract young qualified specialists.
The current tax system has made training new employees financially unviable: training one apprentice in the industry costs at least £35,000, yet only £27,000 of these expenses can be recovered, making workforce development a financial burden.
Meanwhile, British private defense firms’ executives spend a significant portion of their administrative workload securing security clearances from the UK Ministry of Defense to handle classified information.
The scale of this challenge is reflected in the numbers: while techUK previously assisted private contractors with processing 200–300 security clearances per year, it now handles up to 7,000. Yet, it remains only the UK’s fifth-largest provider of such information-related services.
Paradoxically, this level of "secrecy" does not shield the British defense sector from supply chain vulnerabilities, particularly regarding Chinese-made semiconductors. Moreover, the UK Ministry of Defense has faced criticism for systematically overlooking domestic suppliers of critical materials in favor of imports.
Notably, according to plans announced in early March 2025, the UK aims to deliver 5,000 LMM Martlet missiles to Ukraine over the coming years, with production later being localized at domestic facilities.
Read more: Mysterious British Gravehawk, Designed Specially for Ukraine, Certainly Doesn’t Look Like Everyone Expected
