The first phase will see the delivery of seven Merlin helicopters, which have been adapted for use at sea, to provide the Royal Naval with an “interim capability” between the withdrawal of the Sea King in early 2016 and the fully-configured new Merlin beginning operational duty by mid-2018.
Phase two will see the fully-converted 25 Merlin helicopters, which will be designed and manufactured at AgustaWestland’s Yeovil plant, delivered between 2017 and 2020 and will be based at nearby Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton.
The fully-operational “phase two” helicopters will be fully optimised for ship operations and will include two touch screens for controlling the aircraft’s systems and mission equipment.
In total, the Merlin programme will sustain roughly 175 “highly-skilled jobs”, AgustaWestland said, as well as more than 500 jobs in the supply chain, which includes many small and medium-sized companies.
The five-year Apache Integrated Operational Support (IOS) contract, valued at £430m, will sustain around 360 jobs, mainly at Wattisham Airfield, Army Aviation Centre Middle Wallop and AgustaWestland’s Yeovil plant.
This is the second Apache contract of its type for AgustaWestland, which will provide full support and maintenance for the Ministry of Defence’s Apache helicopters from April 1 2014 to March 31 2019.
AgustaWestland will be the prime contractor and will work alongside Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Longbow International and Selex ES to deliver spares, engineering, maintenance, repair and overhaul and technical support services for the UK’s Apache fleet.
The announcement will be welcome news after the company warned earlier this month that jobs were under threat after the Indian government terminated a £465m contract amid bribery allegations.
At that time AgustaWestland revealed that it had prepared a “mitigation plan” that involved job losses. However, the company also said it would intensify legal action to reinstate the contract, saying it believed the Indian government did not have a case for terminating the deal.
more
{ 0 comments... » MoD contracts safeguard 1,000 AgustaWestland jobs read them below or add one }
Post a Comment