Q&A · 52:13-52:57

Britain's land-based air-defence gap

A modern capability answer distinguishes Britain's Land Ceptor from long-range area defence.

Question

Does Britain operate Patriot or an equivalent long-range land-based air-defence system?

Short answer

Britain does not operate Patriot and relies on Land Ceptor for land-based air defence, leaving a long-range gap that could be filled by upgrades, another system, or large air-defence ships.

Notes

Britain could strengthen its land-based layer or follow Japan's concept of very large air-defence vessels as an offshore alternative. National air defence can therefore be distributed between army systems and naval platforms.