Advancing UK Aerospace, Defence, Security & Space Solutions Worldwide
  • Home
  • /
  • Defence
  • /
  • UK and Australia establish weapons development partnership

Defence

UK and Australia establish weapons development partnership

The UK's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and Defence Science and Technology (DST) Group Australia have established a ground-breaking partnership to develop next-generation sub-systems for low-cost weapons systems, bringing together advanced technologies from both nations.

Above: Early concept for Testbed.
Courtesy Dstl

The partnership will combine the UK’s Modular Weapons Testbed and Australia’s SHARKTOOTH programme, which features innovative ‘plug-and-launch’ modular technology, aimed at accelerating the employment of advanced, yet affordable weapons technologies. This integration represents a significant advancement in complex weapons development and will help accelerate and de-risk industry’s development of guided weapon sub-systems.

Advertisement
Gulfstream RT

Under this collaboration both nations will develop new approaches and new technologies enhancing future weapon systems capability, including low-cost seekers (sensors which are responsible for detecting and tracking targets), additively manufactured engines (created by 3D printing or similar), modular warheads and fuses, algorithms to improve guidance, navigation and control and other novel weapons technologies.

The partnership will deliver several key advantages:

  • reduced development costs and risks through shared expertise
  • accelerated deployment of new capabilities
  • enhanced interoperability between UK and Australian forces
  • develop and demonstrate innovation ideas from both nations, helping to invest in sovereign defence ecosystems
  • flexible, modular design allowing rapid adaptation to emerging threats.
Advertisement
ODU RT

The collaboration enables both nations to access a wider pool of innovative ideas, co-operate on technology development and deliver faster against a broader range of operational use cases. For both the UK and Australia this will strengthen defence primes, small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and academia in support of Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) and the UK Ministry of Defence’s Complex Weapons Pipeline and Australia’s Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance (GWEO) Enterprise.

Each nation is developing a concept demonstrator equivalent to a concept car to enable us to prove future technologies before they go into sovereign industrial and military capabilities.

SHARKTOOTH is Australia’s developmental weapon system, a small missile which will enable rapid integration of various components including sensors, warheads, guidance systems and propulsion units.

A spokesperson for Dstl said: "This collaboration represents a step-change in how we develop and deploy complex weapons systems.

"By combining Australia’s modular approach with the UK’s missiles know-how, we’re creating more versatile and capable systems for our armed forces."

Advertisement
Cranfield University
MoD campaign highlights impact of public interruption to military training

Defence

MoD campaign highlights impact of public interruption to military training

18 July 2025

Soldiers sprinting through a salon, abseiling into gyms and crawling through offices feature in a striking new campaign by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), turning the tables on the issue of public interruptions to military training exercises.

UAS launched munitions set to combat air and ground targets

Defence

UAS launched munitions set to combat air and ground targets

18 July 2025

For the first time, BAE Systems has launched a precision munition from a multi-rotor Uncrewed Air System (UAS) and successfully destroyed both air and ground targets during trials in the US.

UK

Defence

UK's combat air flying demonstrator revealed

17 July 2025

Industry partners, BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce and MBDA UK, together with the Ministry of Defence (MoD), have revealed the design of the UK’s flagship Combat Air Flying Demonstrator, as the aircraft reaches a major milestone, with two thirds of its structural weight now in manufacturing.

Scottish defence dividend investment launched

Defence

Scottish defence dividend investment launched

16 July 2025

Scottish Secretary and Minister for Defence Procurement & Industry have visited HMNB Clyde to launch the multidecade, multibillion-pound Clyde 2070 programme.

Advertisement
DSEI 2025
Captec to showcase next-gen computing at DSEI

Defence Events

Captec to showcase next-gen computing at DSEI

16 July 2025

As the defence landscape continues to evolve at pace, with technological advances reshaping mission requirements and placing increasing demands on deployed computing systems, computing specialist Captec will be showcasing next-generation computing platforms at DSEI 2025 (9th–12th September 2025, Excel London).

SkyShark takes flight

Defence Security

SkyShark takes flight

16 July 2025

MGI Engineering, a company forged in the fast-paced world of Formula 1, has officially unveiled SkyShark, a next-generation military drone platform designed to transform battlefield operations with speed, precision and UK-built sovereignty.

Advertisement
Gulfstream RT