A £370m contract to supply Kuwait with British-built, AI-enabled air defence systems will create 100 new UK jobs, supporting skilled engineering and manufacturing as the UK defence industry secures export opportunities.
The deal, awarded to MARSS Systems Limited, an EOS company, will see the UK-based business provide and integrate an advanced air defence system designed to protect Kuwait against airborne threats, including missiles and drones.
Production will be based in Bristol, while the contract will also support the expansion of MARSS’s UK offices. The investment highlights the role of defence exports in creating skilled employment and strengthening the UK’s industrial capabilities.
The system will combine jammers, radars and interceptors with MARSS’s NiDAR platform, an AI-enabled command and control centre designed to coordinate the detection and defeat of aerial threats.
Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard MP said: “By backing Kuwait with world-leading British technology, we’re not just strengthening a vital ally’s defences against real and growing threats. We’re creating skilled jobs here at home and proving that UK industry can deliver when it matters most.”
Supporting UK defence manufacturing
The contract forms part of the UK Government’s Taskforce Sabre initiative, which brings together government and industry to help Gulf states rapidly secure the defence systems and weapons they need. The initiative follows Iranian missile and drone attacks in the region.
For MARSS, the agreement will require the integration of multiple sensors and defensive systems into a coordinated architecture capable of responding rapidly to aerial threats.
Countering drones and aerial threats is not about any single system, it is about an intelligent, layered architecture that detects, decides and defeats within seconds, and MARSS has built exactly that.
Through 2027, MARSS will integrate the sensors and effectors that protect Kuwait’s people, critical infrastructure and national assets, backed by British engineering and new skilled jobs here in the UK.
Johannes Pinl, CEO of MARSS
The deal builds on existing UK defence support for Kuwait. The UK has previously supplied the Gulf state with Rapid Sentry, a ground-based air defence missile system, while the Royal Air Force’s ORCUS system is also operating in the country to help personnel detect drones early and respond to potential threats.
The latest agreement further strengthens the UK’s position as a defence partner to Kuwait and the wider Gulf region, while demonstrating how international demand for advanced defence technology can translate into domestic manufacturing activity and employment.
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