The Ministry of Defence has confirmed that the competition for Project NIGHTFALL is expected to open in December, following the close of its initial industry engagement period.
The update came in a written question from James Cartlidge, Conservative MP for South Suffolk, who asked when the competition would begin. Responding on behalf of the department, Defence Minister Luke Pollard stated that officials are still assessing the industry submissions received last month.
In Pollard’s words, “The Department is currently reviewing feedback from industry on the NIGHTFALL Request for Information, which closed on 24 November 2025. We expect to launch the NIGHTFALL competition in December 2025.”
The confirmation follows the detailed requirement published earlier this year, which set out one of the most ambitious tactical ballistic missile programmes the MoD has attempted in decades.
The Single Statement of User Need describes a ground-launched missile capable of striking beyond 500 kilometres, surviving contested electromagnetic conditions, and delivering a 200-kilogram payload with a CEP50 of five metres. The specification pushes mass production and rapid deployment timelines, with a target effector price of £500,000 excluding warhead and launcher.
As the requirement document makes clear, “The User requires a cost-effective, tactical (>500km) ballistic missile, capable of being safely ground launched from a mobile platform in a high threat tactical environment, navigating to and accurately striking a user-programmed co-ordinate.”
The MoD also stressed survivability and environmental resilience. According to the notice, “It shall be operable in harsh physical environments, day and night, of low multispectral signature, resilient in a complex Electromagnetic environment (EME), including within a GNSS denied & degraded environment, and resistant against targeted EW attack and spoofing.”
Speed of delivery is central to the programme. The requirement sets “an aggressive timeline of a demonstration firing in circa 9 months from any contract award and serial production approximately 3–6 months later, producing a minimum of 10 units per month.”
The project demands that a single mobile launcher be able to fire multiple missiles within 15 minutes and redeploy within five minutes to avoid counter-fire. Systems must operate without reliance on foreign export-restricted components and offer a growth path for range, manoeuvrability and precision.
Acceptable submissions include complete missile concepts or contributions in propulsion, airframes, navigation, scalable manufacturing, mobile launchers, and integration. Proposed solutions that cannot scale rapidly or that do not follow a ballistic trajectory will not be considered.
Industry responses to the RFI closed on 24 November. The forthcoming competition will formalise the down-selection process, with the MoD aiming to reduce candidates to a small number of funded demonstrator designs in 2026.
