The UK Ministry of Defence has awarded contracts worth £3.16 million to three companies to develop low-cost interceptors designed to counter drones and other airborne threats, becoming the first of five European partner nations to place contracts under a joint air defence initiative.
The contracts were awarded to Frankenberg Technologies, Greenjets and Cambridge Aerospace, all UK-based small and medium-sized enterprises, which will now develop and test interceptor concepts as part of the Low-Cost Air Defence Effectors (LCADE) programme.
The programme aims to provide a more affordable way to defeat the growing threat posed by mass-produced drones, which have become a defining feature of modern conflicts. According to the UK Ministry of Defence, Russia launched the equivalent of more than 200 drones per day against Ukraine during March 2026, highlighting the need for scalable and cost-effective air defence solutions.
LCADE forms part of the wider Low-Cost Effectors and Autonomous Platforms (LEAP) initiative, a multinational programme involving the United Kingdom, Poland, France, Italy and Germany. Each participating nation is conducting its own national competition before moving into a multinational phase focused on jointly developing affordable interceptor and autonomous technologies.
The initiative is intended to strengthen European defence industrial cooperation while accelerating the delivery of systems that can be manufactured at scale and deployed by allied armed forces.
The contracts were awarded through Commercial X, a team within the UK’s National Armaments Director Group established to accelerate defence procurement and improve access for smaller technology companies. The ministry said the approach is designed to reduce barriers for innovative firms and speed the introduction of new capabilities into service.
The three selected companies have committed to establishing manufacturing capacity in the UK, supporting jobs in locations including Cambridge, Milton Keynes, Bristol and Stevenage.
The next phase of the programme will focus on identifying designs that can be mass-produced across the five partner nations, supported by resilient manufacturing capacity and supply chains.
National Armaments Director Rupert Pearce said the contracts demonstrate the benefits of working with innovative British companies while strengthening cooperation with European allies to address the growing threat posed by mass drone attacks.
Greenjets CEO Anmol Manohar said the company was proud to support the programme and looked forward to participating in demonstration trials later this year.