Scout SV turret contract signed with Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin UK has inked a deal to supply the turret for the Scout Specialist Vehicle (SV) under a £1 billion contract awarded by General Dynamics UK.
Lockheed Martin UK will design, manufacture, integrate and test 245 turrets for the Scout SV under the contract. According to the company, the turret will ‘deliver significant improvements in combat capability, survivability and operational effectiveness for the infantry’.
The work will sustain some 880 jobs at Lockheed Martin’s Ampthill site in Bedfordshire.
Stephen Ball, chief executive, Lockheed Martin UK, said: ‘This contract reflects the significant investment we have made in our workforce in Ampthill and clearly demonstrates our ability to play a key role in the design and development of the armoured fighting vehicles of the future. The award not only sustains a significant number of highly skilled manufacturing jobs at our Ampthill site but will also greatly benefit our UK supply chain partners with whom we will work to deliver this modern, leading edge capability.’
The UK Ministry of Defence awarded General Dynamics the £3.5 billion contract to deliver 589 Scout SV vehicles to the British Army in September. The family of armoured fighting vehicles, which will be delivered in six variants, will allow the British Army to conduct sustained, expeditionary, full-spectrum and network-enabled operations with a reduced logistics footprint.
Lockheed Martin UK will deliver the first prototype turrets to General Dynamics UK for assembly onto the Scout SV hull in 2015, ahead of the first vehicles being handed over to the army in 2017.
Related Equipment in Defence Insight
More from Land Warfare
-
“A new philosophy of defence”: ASELSAN sets out ambitions for the future
In Conversation: Shephard’s Gerrard Cowan talks to ASELSAN CEO and President Ahmet Akyol about how the business has evolved and expanded over the past five decades, and its aim of becoming a top 30 global defence company by 2030.
-
Still no clarity on the future of the British Army’s new wheeled artillery system
The UK donated its AS90 155mm/39cal tracked self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine ahead of planned retirement and bought Archer platforms to fill the gap. Eventually RCH 155s were ordered but the procurement effort remains under a cloud.
-
More details of Indonesia’s Celeris-based 4x4 emerge as customer hunt begins
The Texelis Celeris builds on the rolling chassis of the Serval 4×4 lightweight multi-role armoured vehicle which is being built by Texelis and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann Nexter Defence Systems (KNDS France).
-
KF41 Lynx finds a path but hurdles remain
The Lynx is typically configured as an IFV operated by a crew of three and with space for up to eight dismounts in the rear troop compartment. The platform is being delivered to Hungary, has been contracted for Italy and will soon be in Ukrainian hands in small numbers.