(VOVworld) - Britain's Ministry of Defense (MOD) announced Friday it has awarded a contract worth 125 million USD to deliver a key defensive weapon for the Royal Navy's new Type 26 Global Combat Ships.

The first steel will be cut on the Royal Navy’s Type 26 Global Combat Ships in Glasgow in summer 2017 (baesystems.com)

The advanced Sea Ceptor air defense missile system will be fitted to each of the new Type 26 ships.The MOD said using innovations in radar and datalink technology that will guide powerful missiles with pinpoint accuracy, Sea Ceptor will provide the Royal Navy with a shield against airborne threats such as the new generation of supersonic anti-ship missiles, fast jets, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles. The Sea Ceptor is due to enter service on Type 26 in the mid-2020s, and on Type 23 in 2017.