Mentioned:Cody Aerospace & Defence
British startup Cody Aerospace unveiled the Badger Mk1 ground-launched strike missile with a 70-100 mile range and a 100 kg warhead. The company is raising pre-seed funding and targets development maturity within 18-24 months to address NATO stockpile shortfalls.
What's happening
- Cody Aerospace, founded in February 2026, unveiled Badger Mk1 at the Apex Europe defense show in London, a ground-launched strike missile with 70-100 mile range and up to 100 kg warhead.
- The missile launches from a converted ISO shipping container sold as a complete system with radar and fire control, and Cody announced plans for the Ordnance One production facility.
- The company is raising pre-seed capital while Badger remains in design phase, targeting development maturity including testing within 18-24 months using off-the-shelf seekers, rocket motors and guidance systems.
Why it matters
- NATO faces a stockpile crisis with the UK holding only 7-10 days of intensive-warfare reserves requiring 3 years to replenish from U.S. suppliers, which Cody aims to address with a sub-one-year replenishment cycle.
- The UK Defence Investment Plan allocated £11.1 billion for stockpile rebuilding since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, creating demand for domestic munitions production capacity.
- Cody's model promises faster production turnaround than existing suppliers, where U.S. defense orders carry priority ratings that can extend delivery to 4-5 years for allied customers.
Going deeper
- Cody plans to add an interceptor missile to the same container launcher within 2 years, giving one vehicle both strike and air defense roles for allied forces.
- Founder Henry Price spent 15 years at large defense contractors and their suppliers before founding Cody, betting on a replenishment-rate advantage rather than technological innovation.
- Price advocates NATO standardization of rocket munitions so any similarly-sized round can fire from different allied launchers, with Cody offering open-source software and fire control systems.
The fine print
- Cody has not announced customers, unit pricing or test dates for Badger Mk1.
- The company has not disclosed the location or cost of the Ordnance One production facility.
- Cody acknowledges that rare earths and composites depend on supply chains Europe does not fully control, and a fully British supply chain would cost 3-4 times as much according to suppliers.
Source: defence-blog.com · Oct 11, 2026 · Drafted with Claude, reviewed by Industrial Base Alpha.
