BAE Systems, EuropeÔÇÖs largest defence company, has won a ten-year contract worth ┬ú370 million to maintain and develop torpedoes for the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force, it announced yesterday.
The deal will support around 120 skilled jobs at BAE Systems in Portsmouth, UK, as well as additional jobs with subcontractors across the rest of the country.
The contracts relate to in-service support for heavyweight Spearfish torpedoes and lightweight Sting Ray torpedoes through to 2019, as well as providing the foundation for a proposed upgrade programme for the Spearfish torpedo, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.
Hampshire, UK-based BAE will partner with the MoDÔÇÖs Defence Equipment and Support division in order to reduce costs by around 20 per cent compared with the traditional support approach, resulting in efficiencies of around ┬ú65 million.
The deal consolidates what were 11 separate contracts into one.
Paul Laity, BAE Systems Integrated System Technologies Naval Programmes director, said in a statement: ÔÇ£The TCC provides a coherent approach to torpedo support as well as providing a basis for future development programmes.
It maintains a sovereign UK capability for the design, development and through-life management and support of the torpedo inventory, thus contributing to the aims of the Defence Industrial Strategy.ÔÇØ
BAE has been the primary contractor and design authority for the UKÔÇÖs torpedo industry for around 40 years. It employs around 105,000 people worldwide and hit total sales of ┬ú18.5 billion in 2008.
The company also announced that it has won a five-year contract worth $347 million from the US Army to supply and maintain hand-held laser targeting systems.
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