Sky Sabre

British Army ground-based air-defense system that replaced the Rapier missile, combining the Giraffe AMB radar with CAMM (Common Anti-Air Modular Missile) interceptors to defend against aircraft, drones and precision munitions. It has been deployed operationally to protect UK airspace, including around London.

In service since 2021 · 1 operator countries

Compiled from public sources ·primary reference ↗ ·last verified 2026-07-02

km range

10,000

m altitude

targets

Procurement snapshot

Availability & export

UK export-licensed

Subject to UK SPIRE licensing (ECJU); generally available to allied states.

Channel: Government-to-government or direct

Fielded & proven

Limited · 1 operator

In service since 2021. Status: active.

Lifecycle cost (est.)

No public unit price to model from.

Interoperability

No standardised NATO calibre / datalink detected in public specs.

Derived guidance from public data — export regime by country of origin, lifecycle from the GAO ~30% acquisition rule. Verify eligibility, pricing and offsets with the manufacturer and your acquisition authority.

Full specifications

Performance

Speed, range, altitude and engagement capability.

Engagement range Maximum distance at which an air-defense system can intercept targets. Higher covers more airspace.: 25 km

Stronger than 32% of air-defense systems
Engagement altitude Maximum target altitude the system can reach.: 10,000 m

Stronger than 25% of air-defense systems
Simultaneous targets Number of targets the system can engage at once. Higher resists saturation attacks.: 24

Stronger than 87% of air-defense systems

Firepower

Armament, payload and guidance.

Main armament Primary weapon: main gun, cannon or missile type.: CAMM vertical-launch interceptor missiles

Physical

Dimensions, weight and crew.

Crew Personnel required to operate. Fewer reduces exposure; autoloaders trade a loader for mechanical complexity.: 4

Sensors & avionics

Radar, sensor suite and datalinks.

Radar Primary radar. AESA (active electronically scanned array) is the current state of the art.: Saab Giraffe AMB 3D surveillance radar
Sensors IRST, EO/IR turrets, laser designators, sniper pods, thermal sights.: command and control post, electro-optical tracker

Program

Cost, production scale and operators.

Operator countries Number of countries operating the system. More operators means broader support ecosystem.: 1

Stronger than 19% of air-defense systems

Specifications compiled from public MBDA and reference sources ↗. Published defense figures are approximations — treat comparisons as directional. Last verified 2026-07-02.

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