Martlet missiles: Why India is turning to Britain’s low-cost weapon for the drone battlefield

India is preparing to significantly expand its planned purchase of Britain’s Lightweight Multirole Missiles (LMM), better known as Martlet, with the Indian Army emerging as potentially the weapon’s biggest customer after Ukraine. The development comes as militaries increasingly look for a different kind of air-defence weapon: one that can destroy relatively cheap drones without wasting million-dollar interceptors.

India and the UK are close to signing an Inter-Governmental Agreement for the missiles, with British officials indicating that the Indian requirement has grown substantially from the original plan announced in October 2025. The earlier government-to-government package was valued at £350 million ($468 million), while the revised requirement is expected to run into several hundred missiles.

That would put India behind Ukraine in terms of publicly announced Martlet orders. Britain has committed more than 6,000 LMMs to Ukraine, including an order for 5,350 missiles and RapidRanger launchers over five years, followed by another 1,000 missiles.

What is the Martlet missile? 

The Martlet is the Royal Navy’s name for the Lightweight Multirole Missile (LMM) developed and manufactured by Thales UK in Belfast.

It is a relatively small, lightweight precision missile designed to be launched from multiple platforms rather than being tied to one particular weapons system. At about 13 kg, it can be carried by an individual soldier in a man-portable configuration, mounted on a tripod or vehicle, or integrated with helicopters and naval platforms.

The missile travels at around Mach 1.5 and has a range of more than 6 km, according to Thales-linked specifications cited by defence publications.

Its principal guidance method is laser beam-riding. Instead of relying on a large, expensive seeker inside the missile, the weapon can ride a laser beam directed at the target. This gives it precision against manoeuvring targets while helping keep the missile compact and relatively inexpensive.

What can Martlet actually destroy? 

Despite being marketed as a multirole missile, Martlet is not simply a conventional air-to-air weapon.

Its targets can include:

• Small drones and UAVs 
• Helicopters and other aircraft 
• Small, fast attack boats 
• Light armoured vehicles 
• Wheeled and tracked vehicles 
• Other relatively small battlefield or maritime targets 

The UK says its LMM can counter drones, helicopters, aircraft and small, fast maritime targets. (GOV.UK)

This flexibility is central to its appeal. A single missile family can be adapted to different launch platforms and missions rather than requiring a separate weapon for every threat.

Why does India want it? 

The most important part of the Martlet story is not its size or speed. It is the cost equation.

Modern militaries are increasingly facing swarms of small drones and one-way attack UAVs. Using a sophisticated long-range air-defence missile against every low-cost drone can quickly become financially unsustainable.

The Martlet occupies a lower-cost layer of the air-defence spectrum. The UK has increasingly moved the weapon towards the counter-unmanned aerial systems (C-UAS) mission, including a £36 million order in June 2026 specifically linked to countering aerial threats.

Estimates have put the price of an individual basic Martlet at roughly £40,000-£50,000, although there is no officially disclosed Indian unit price.

From the Bay of Bengal to the Red Sea 

Martlet has already seen operational use. The Royal Navy first fired the missile from a Wildcat helicopter during the UK's Carrier Strike Group deployment in the Bay of Bengal in 2021. It subsequently became part of Britain's maritime arsenal for dealing with small surface threats.

The weapon was also used in the wider UK effort to protect commercial shipping in the Red Sea, where the threat from drones and other attacks demonstrated the changing nature of maritime warfare.

In 2025, the Royal Navy reported further trials in which Martlet intercepted drones, demonstrating its role against aerial targets as well.

The Indian Army is dealing with an increasingly complex battlefield in which drones can perform surveillance, artillery spotting, electronic warfare and direct attack missions. A lightweight missile that can be deployed with tactical formations offers commanders another option against such threats.