The MoD has awarded a 3 and a half year £27 million contract to Rayhtheon for the;

Development, Qualification and Manufacture of a Tactical Penetrator Warhead.

This is the Paveway IV guided bomb in service since 2008, one of the RAF’s principle attack weapons, with Brimstone and Storm Shadow

This is an interesting development, a penetrating warhead has been one of those slow burn projects that has seemingly been around for ages as part of the Selected Precision Effects at Range (SPEAR) Capability 1 programme. Raytheon have worked with QinetiQ and Thales to develop and test initial versions of the penetrating warhead to reduce risk so this looks like moving the project to the next stage. Reports from last year indicated a discarding shroud would feature as part of the design, a design intended to penetrate hard and deep targets like bunkers and underground tunnels.

Good news.

READ MORE ABOUT UK COMPLEX WEAPONS

https://www.thinkdefence.co.uk/uk-complex-weapons/