UK sticks with BAE Systems for NGMS

BAE Systems is to continue providing the UK armed forces with small arms ammunition, mortar bombs, medium-calibre gun rounds and large-calibre artillery and tank shells, under a new £2.4 billion ($3.2 billion) contract from the MoD.

The MoD announced the Next Generation Munitions Solution (NGMS) contract on 30 November, noting that BAE Systems will manufacture ‘39 different munitions for the Royal Navy, Army, Royal Air Force and Strategic Command to use on the front line’.

NGMS replaces the existing Munitions Acquisition Supply Solution (MASS) single-source contract from January 2023.

BAE Systems is the incumbent contractor for MASS as well.

‘NGMS will deliver about 50 per cent, by value, of the MOD’s total general munitions (GM) portfolio and will maximise military capability and reduce cost,’ the MoD noted.

It added that the new contract includes incentives for BAE Systems to make savings over the life of the contract. The company identified potential efficiencies worth about £400 million in its NGMS bid proposal, while it expects to invest £350 million in the UK industrial supply chain.

NGMS includes the flexibility for the MoD to vary the volume of orders and allow GM products to be added or removed, depending on frontline requirements.

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