Belfast used to be known as a place where weapons were fired rather than made. But a nondescript factory in a suburb of Northern Ireland’s capital is playing an important role in the war in Ukraine, and bringing much-needed well-paid jobs to the province. For Northern Ireland’s first minister, however, this is a mixed blessing.
The factory belongs to Thales Air Defence, part of a French aerospace firm. Since January 2022, as Russian troops massed on the border before Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion, Britain has been sending NLAW (Next generation Light Anti-Tank Weapon) missiles, designed by Sweden’s Saab but made by Thales in Belfast, to Ukraine. The lightweight shoulder-fired weapon soon came to symbolise Ukraine’s defiance: it was emblazoned on T-shirts and flags, and celebrated in a heavy-metal anthem. Two prime ministers, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, came to Belfast to see the NLAWs being made.
They were just part of the Belfast-made arsenal heading to eastern Ukraine. Britain also sent Starstreak anti-aircraft missiles, which can travel at more than three times the speed of sound; their three warheads embed themselves in their target before exploding, increasing the chances of a deadly strike. And it has supplied Lightweight Multirole Missiles (LMMs), which have a range of around 6km (3.7 miles) and can be used against armoured vehicles, aircraft and threats to ships.
More is on the way. On March 2nd, two days after Volodymyr Zelensky’s disastrous meeting in the Oval Office with Donald Trump, the government announced a deal worth up to £1.6bn ($2.0bn) for Thales to make more than 5,000 LMMs for Ukraine. The contract is being financed through a taxpayer-backed loan of £3.5bn to Ukraine for buying British military kit.
This is great news for Thales’s local operation. On March 5th its managing director, Nigel MacVean, told Northern Ireland’s devolved Assembly that the order meant it “will continue to grow rapidly”. The 850-strong workforce will expand to 1,050 over the next two years, and Thales will open a third Northern Irish facility. (As well as the Belfast factory, it has a test site in rural County Down.)
One hindrance to recruitment, Mr MacVean added, is that security clearances for staff in Belfast take longer than in Great Britain—a legacy of Northern Ireland’s three decades of bombings and shootings, which claimed more than 3,500 lives. The Troubles also help explain why the province attracts less defence spending per person than the rest of the United Kingdom (£60, against a national average of £310, according to a House of Commons committee report in 2024).
With the shift in the geopolitical climate since Mr Trump’s return to power, more defence work could come Northern Ireland’s way. Esmond Birnie, an economist at Ulster University, believes that Harland and Wolff, the shipyard that built the Titanic, should also win more contracts because “the presence of the immense dry dock in Belfast takes on a strategic value”.
You might expect politicians to be glad. And most of Northern Ireland’s parties have welcomed Thales’s latest deal, not least because the firm offers high salaries in a part of the world where well-paid private-sector roles are scarce. But not the first minister, Michelle O’Neill of Sinn Féin, once the political wing of the Irish Republican Army (a paramilitary group which for decades tried to break the link with Britain through violence). Asked about Thales’s deal, Ms O’Neill said: “I find it really incredulous.” She added: “Rather than buying weapons of war, I would rather see the money invested in public services.” Northern Ireland’s health system, for example, has been in crisis for years.
Northern Ireland is now a place of peace, and wants to be known for it. It has welcomed Ukrainian refugees, and all the main parties (including Sinn Féin) support the resistance to Russia’s invasion. But bringing peace to Ukraine, and preserving it in the rest of Europe, may mean more defence contracts for the province—however uncomfortable that may be for some. ■
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