Britain will develop new tactical ballistic missile that would – once operational (just possibly in late 2026) – return to Ukraine strike planners the ability to hit protected targets deep inside Russia with powerful, precision-guided munitions (PGMs), official British reports over the weekend said.
A Sunday statement published by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) said that under an initiative called Project Nightfall the British government has launched a competition to develop ground-launched ballistic missiles with a range of more than 500 kilometers and able to operate in high-threat battlefields with heavy electromagnetic interference.
The missile costing a maximum price of £800,000 ($1.34 million) a unit would carry a 200kg conventional high explosive warhead out to a range of “more than” 500 km., and be launch-able from a stationary platform or a vehicle, the statement said.
Luke Pollard MP, Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry, in comments to the MoD said that three development teams would be awarded a £9 million ($12.01 million) contract to design, develop and deliver their first three missiles within 12 months for test firings. Initial serial production would be ten missiles a month, the MoD statement said.
The Nightfall missile is being designed primarily for Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) use and, once fielded, the mobile, fast-flying missile would allow “Ukrainian forces to hit key military targets before Russian forces can respond” the MoD statement said in part.
The Nightfall missile will be resilient in an electronic warfare environment and be designed for quick upscaling to higher-volume manufacturing “particularly in the UK” but possibly in other locations, and “(w)hilst aimed at supporting Ukraine, Nightfall will also inform future UK Armed Forces’ long-range strike projects,” the statement said.
Pollard said: “A secure Europe needs a strong Ukraine. These new long-range British missiles will keep Ukraine in the fight and give [Russian leader Vladimir] Putin another thing to worry about. In 2026, we will continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine. Providing equipment to keep them in the fight today, whilst working to secure the peace tomorrow.”
An August 2025 British government announcement made public plans to develop a new short-range ballistic missile for use in Ukraine, and in December 2025 the MoD released its tender detail requirements for the weapon.
As described in the UK official request for information (RFI) launching the development process, the MoD is looking to acquire a ground-launched, short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) flying a ballistic trajectory, with some “basic manoeuvrability” for terminal phase and high resistance to jamming.
The deadline to receive Nightfall development proposals is Feb. 9, 2026, with development contract(s) “aimed to be awarded” in March 2026, the MoD said.
Since Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has used its own ballistic missiles to mostly attack Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure within them.
Using Soviet-era Tochka-U missiles, its own domestically-manufactured Hrim-2/Sapsan missile, and small quantities of old-version US-made ATACMS missiles, the AFU has mostly fired ballistic missiles at Russian airfields and military aircraft, warships tied up at a port, or headquarters containing senior Russian and North Korean officers.
Probably the best-documented series of Ukrainian ballistic missile strikes of the war took place from April 17 to 28, 2024. An initial wave of US-made ATACMS missiles smashed four launchers, three tactical radars, a command point and support vehicles used by a Russian S-400 (NATO: SA-21) air defense system defending the northern part of the Russia-occupied Crimea peninsula. The Kremlin has advertised S-400 as the world’s best air defense system and special-designed to intercept ballistic missiles.
Follow-up Ukrainian ATACMS strikes beefed up with cruise missiles destroyed or damaged between two and ten Russian Air Force aircraft parked at Crimea airfields, a Murom-M regional air surveillance radar, aviation fuel storage sites, and killed or wounded air crew and maintenance staff quarters and worksites, statements by Ukraine’s military intelligence agency claimed.
Independent analysts and satellite overflight imagery confirmed heavy damage to Russian air defense assets and gound facilities and partial evidence of multiple aircraft destroyed.
The new White House administration in February 2025 effectively cut off ATACMS missile deliveries to Ukraine following the inauguration of Donald Trump and a reversal of longstanding US policy to assist Ukraine with weapons, and a Trump Administration attempt to align Washington more with Moscow.
Ukrainian domestic output of ballistic missiles is limited because of Russia’s regular systematic targeting of missile manufacturing and rocket motor fuel production facilities in Ukraine, and long-range strike drone attacks on Ukrainian aerospace manufacturing.
The UK statement did not refer directly to American limits placed on AFU, or the AFU’s nearly exhausted ATACMS supply, but said in part: “NIGHTFALL is intended to provide Ukraine with a powerful, cost-effective long-range strike option, with minimal foreign export controls.”
During a Friday visit to Kyiv, in comments to local reporters, British Defence Secretary John Healey accused the Kremlin of warmongering and aggressiveness and said that London’s support for Ukraine is intended to counter that.
“Putin talks about peace, but he’s stepping up and escalating his attacks,” Healey said. “We won’t stand for this, which is why we are determined to put leading edge weapons into the hands of Ukrainians as they fight back.”
In other remarks, Healey said production of British Octopus interceptor drones would begin in January to aid Ukraine’s air defense against Russian missile and drone strikes. The system is being financed from part of the £600 million ($808 million) UK air defense support package to Ukraine for 2026.