DSEI UK 2025: Cambridge Aerospace to present air defence solutions

Cambridge Aerospace will be using DSEI UK 2025 to emerge from stealth mode and officially present its new products for air defence; Skyhammer and Starhammer. 

Skyhammer is described as “a low-cost, rapidly scalable, interceptor for cruise missiles and large drones,” in the company’s September 1 press release. The latter almost certainly indicates the intent to tackle one-way effectors like the Shahed and Geran 2 used by Russia and Iran. 

Skyhammer is the first product from Cambridge Aerospace and has been in testing since early 2025. It uses the company’s own supply chain and proprietary information (its own knowledge and capabilities), to drive down costs. It has a range up to 30 km, top speed of 700 km/h, and is designed to be tube-launched, allowing users to deploy the interceptor from platforms or ground locations. The concept of operations appears to be that the interceptors would be pre-positioned around a site and would launch in response to a detected threat. 

It includes a seeker from Cambridge Aerospace-designed seeker that is understood to look for, track and detect its own targets, presumably requiring some form of external cueing from other sensors. 

Starhammer is described as an “interceptor for higher speed and value targets…at a fraction of traditional price points,” the press release explains. What this means is not explained, but given that cruise missiles and drones are addressed by Skyhammer, it stands to reason that Starhammer looks to address ballistic missiles or supersonic cruise missiles. 

The company is also building its own solid rocket motor called Nightstar, which is described as a “sovereign-built solid rocket motor, strengthening the UK’s industrial capability and resilience.”  And, it is understood that work is also underway on a proprietary warhead. 

Cambridge Aerospace will be presenting all three products on its stand during DSEI UK 2025, the stand number is S1-220.

Company profile: Cambridge Aerospace

Cambridge Aerospace Limited is a new, London-based private company operating in “stealth mode.” It was founded on September 4, 2024 and has operated in “stealth mode” (meaning it has not publicly disclosed its specific products or services), until now.The company is creating a range of interceptors to “counter the threat of cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and hypersonic weapons” it states in its press release.

It was founded by Steven Barrett, a Regius Professor of Engineering at Cambridge University, and Chris Sylvan, former Business Development Director of Anduril UK. The company’s leadership includes a mix of academics and executives, alongside prominent venture capitalists such as Klaus Hommels of Lakestar and Harry Nelis of Accel. Following a significant funding round, the company secured $100 million, which valued the start-up at approximately $400 million. The round was led by Spark Capital and also included investments from Lakestar, Accel, and Lux Capital.

Calibre comment

Ukraine’s plight has thrown the existing air defence paradigm into sharp relief and caused a nervous look inwards at the UK’s own capabilities in that field. Recent announcements such as the procurement of additional Sky Sabre launchers are expected to help address that gap. The current air defence threat has two components: mass, and capability. Russia has large stocks of advanced ballistic missiles like the 9M723 Iskander and its Kh-101 long-range cruise missiles, which it can produce at a significant pace – around 60 of each per month. This is coupled with its Geran-2 production, which is in the thousands per year. An individual Geran is not necessarily a challenge, its warhead is relatively small and is unlikely to destroy anything game-changing with a single successful strike. However, when they are used in waves to reveal the location of air defence systems allowing more complex weapons like the Kh-101 to pass through un-intercepted, they can become a significant threat. So, states have to answer the Shahed-like threat, and they have to do it more economically than they are currently able to do. If Cambridge Aerospace can produce Skyhammer at a price point that is affordable and at a meaningful scale, it could offer many potential benefits for European states. 

By Sam Cranny-Evans, published on September 2, 2025. Credit for the lead image is Cambridge Aerospace.