Arms manufacturer to open third facility in Northern Ireland

Thales, a French-owned arms company, already runs a factory in east Belfast and test facility in Co Down.

The Thales missile factory in east Belfast (PA)

A major weapons manufacturer is set to open a third facility in Northern Ireland, Assembly members have heard.

Thales UK operates two sites in the region – with high-precision missiles designed and produced at a plant in east Belfast, and final missile assembly at another plant in Crossgar, Co Down.

It designs and produces missiles including Starstreak, Lightweight Multi-role Missile (LMM) systems as well as final assembly of the Saab designed NLAW.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer recently announced that Thales would supply 5,000 LMMs to Ukraine in a deal worth up to £1.6 billion.

NLAW contract — Engineers at the Thales Belfast factory assembly line (Thales)

He also told MLAs that missiles have been shipped from Belfast to the front line in Ukraine and are making an impact.

He said LMMs are “widely recognised as one of the key drivers in keeping Russian helicopters out of Ukraine”, while the NLAW “is widely regarded as being responsible for keeping Russian tanks out of Kyiv”.

Mr MacVean said the firm has been on a rapid growth curve over the last couple of years, and will continue to grow rapidly.

He said there are currently 850 direct employees in Belfast and they expect to create another 200 jobs over the next two years.

“We’ll expand our footprint from the two existing sites we have in Northern Ireland to a third site as well as part of that expansion plan,” he told MLAs.

“We’re at the moment just launching around £100 million worth of investment in our facilities, capital infrastructure in Northern Ireland. That’ll be largely undertaken by local companies.”

Nigel MacVean, managing director of Thales UK in Northern Ireland, gives evidence to the Stormont Economy committee (NI Assembly/PA)

The committee heard from a number of firms during its meeting on Wednesday morning which included a briefing from the UK Aerospace, Defence, Security and Space industries (ADS) on the need for a long-term strategic plan to support the industry.

Leslie Orr, from the ADS Group – a trade body for sectors, said the industry is now worth £2.2 billion to the Northern Ireland economy, and employs more than 10,000 people.

“It’s a critical sector for Northern Ireland,” he added.