§ Lord BachThe Defence Procurement Agency has agreed contracts with European Aeronautic Defence Systems and Lockheed Martin for a three-year competitive assessment phase for the Ground-Based Air Defence Phase 1 Programme.
The contracts will pave the way for low-risk incremental introduction of enhanced command and control capability to our GBAD forces as well as providing them with world-class situational awareness in the joint battlespace management environment. This capability will provide interoperability within the joint UK forces and with all of our principal allies, The combined value of the contracts is around £85 million 7WS and the work will be conducted in the UK, headed from offices in Havant and Bristol, with a significant proportion being sub-contracted to MBDA Missile Systems at Stevenage and Thales Air Defence Ltd in Belfast. The GBAD investment will not only start a process of considerable networked-enabled capability enhancement, but will support a wide variety of highly skilled jobs within the UK.