Kuwait buys a British AI-enabled air defence system for £370 million: MARSS to integrate radars, jammers and interceptors in NiDAR

Kuwait is buying from Britain’s MARSS an air defence system worth £370 million to counter drones and other aerial threats. According to the UK Ministry of Defence announcement of October 9, the company, now owned by EOS, will supply and integrate an advanced system including jammers, radars and interceptors, linked to the NiDAR platform, an AI-enabled command and control centre used to detect, deter and neutralise aerial threats.

The contract falls under Taskforce Sabre, the scheme through which the British government and industry help Gulf states quickly acquire systems and weapons. London ties the initiative directly to Iran’s “offensive” missile and drone attacks in the region. Kuwait has repeatedly been in the line of fire, as in the Iranian barrage against American targets in September.

What NiDAR is

NiDAR is command-and-control software that gathers data from different sensors, such as radar and electro-optical, and links them to means of neutralisation, from electronic jammers to interceptors. “Countering drones and aerial threats is not about a single system, but an intelligent, layered architecture that detects, decides and neutralises in seconds,” said MARSS’s chief executive. The company will integrate the sensors and countermeasures that will protect the population, critical infrastructure and national facilities of Kuwait by 2027.

Defence minister for readiness and industry Luke Pollard said the contract “shows that the UK is keeping its promise to support its regional partners” against “real and growing threats”. Production will take place in Bristol, with 100 new jobs.

The British presence in Kuwait

This is not Britain’s first contribution to Kuwait. The country has already received Rapid Sentry, a ground-based missile air defence system, and the Royal Air Force’s ORCUS system, which helps personnel spot drones early, also operates on its territory. Counter-drone defence of the Gulf states has become critical after attacks on infrastructure in the region, the latest being the Houthi strike on Riyadh’s King Khalid airport.

For Greece, which is developing its own counter-drone systems, the logic of a layered architecture with a common command centre is the same one being discussed for protecting Greek bases and ships.