MORE good news this week for troubled Yeovil-based Westland Helicopters.
The Ministry of Defence has awarded a £20 million-plus contract for Westland to undertake the assessment phase for the new Battlefield Light Utility helicopter to upgrade a large number of Army Lynx aircraft.
The MoD announced that AgustaWestland's Future Lynx has been selected on a single-tender basis. The purpose of the assessment phase is to establish high overall confidence in the aircraft before a commitment to manufacturing.
An AgustaWestland spokesperson said the assessment phase was likely to last for up to 18 months.
"Future Lynx builds strongly on the experience of recent export programmes which have proven the concept of developing existing aircraft and the performance enhancement from the new LHTEC CTS 800-4N engines," the spokesperson added.
Westland Helicopter managing director Alan Johnston said: "Future Lynx builds strongly on the Super Lynx 300 aircraft, which has recently sold in three overseas countries. Today's announcement is a tremendous vote of confidence in Westland's capability.
" But we do recognise that the single-tender approach is a significant step for the MoD to take. We shall continue to work closely with the MoD team to ensure a successful outcome to the assessment phase activity in order to take Future Lynx forward into manufacture."
Yeovil David Laws, who last week met Defence Minister Geoff Hoon to discuss possible future orders for Westland, welcomed the MoD announcement.
He said: "This is excellent news for Westland - and for Yeovil. The is the first, but crucially important, big step towards securing the order to upgrade a large number of Lynx helicopters.
"Potentially, the contract for the Army Lynx is one of the biggest contracts for UK military helicopters this decade, and winning the order for the Army Lynx would help secure many jobs in Westland over the middle years of this decade.
"Many congratulations to all those at Westland who have been working on this contract. This is some welcome good news for Yeovil after the sad news of recent redundancies."
u Earlier this month, Westland announced the loss of 600 jobs at Yeovil and the closure of its Weston-super-Mare operation where a further 350 are employed. Last week the company announced that the Royal Airforce of Oman had placed an order for 300 Super Lynx helicopters.