Keep defence contracts British, NP Aerospace urges Government
A West Midland aerospace firm is calling on the Government to support British manufacturing by keeping contracts British – as it enters the final stages of a bid to build the next generation of patrol vehicles for soldiers in Afghanistan.
Coventry-based NP Aerospace is one of the final two firms left in the bid for a £200 million Ministry of Defence contract to design a new vehicle to replace the controversial Snatch Land Rover.
And it has held on open day for the companies in its supply chain – more than half of which are based in the West Midlands – to try to play up the British bid. They are competing with Force Protection Europe, a wholly-owned subsidiary of a US arms firm, for the MoD contract.
The Government launched a competitive tender for a replacement for the Snatch Land Rover, a vehicle which has been denounced for not providing enough protection from explosions for troops serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The NP Aerospace vehicle was designed by South West-based company Supacat, and will be produced by the Coventry firm and its supply chain if they get the contract. A prototype of the vehicle, known as the SPV400, has already been produced.
About 90 per cent of the SPV400 is sourced in the UK with the supply chain stretching from Darlington, where Cummins UK produces the engine, down to Devon, where the SPV400 is designed by Supacat.
Some 15 of the key suppliers are concentrated in the West Midlands around the Coventry production facility, including GKN Aerospace and GKN Driveline, Pailton Engineering, CSES Engineering, Park Sheetmetal, Garforth & Goodman, Christy Hydraulics, Dana UK Axles, AFS and Lighting Aerospace.
Roger Medwell, the chief executive and chairman of NP Aerospace, said: “In the UK we still have the capability to design and produce a world-beating military vehicle and with the SPV400 the full export benefits will flow back to the UK, helping to underpin continued British development of equipment that best serves our troops on the front line. This is an important piece of business for NP Aerospace’s future and for all the British companies in our supply chain and for their employees to sustain high quality engineering jobs.”
Supacat managing director Nick Ames agreed, saying the MoD’s decision was “essential for our soldiers, but also for British industry.”
Both companies already have significant experience in working with the British Army, with Supacat currently supplying the Jackal and Coyote vehicles while NP Aerospace puts together and supplies the Mastiff, Ridgback and Wolfhound vehicles.
The initial MoD contract is for 200 patrol vehicles, but the companies involved will be expecting to make plenty more, as there is a significant export market for this kind of vehicle.
NP said the intellectual property rights were a huge deal, and it would be a boost for British industry to have them kept in the country.
A spokeswoman for the firm said: “The main difference in terms of our bids is what would happen to the intellectual property rights. Whoever wins the contract will have the endorsement of the MoD and there is significant export potential. It all comes down to the Government’s policy.”
The final decision on the contract rests with the MoD, and is expected by the end of July.
