Billion-Dollar Upgrade for British Army’s Warrior Vehicles

By BIMAL DHARSI | Published: NOVEMBER 1, 2011

The British Ministry of Defense (MoD), is awarding Lockheed Martin UK a £642m ($1.02bn) contract as part of the Warrior armored vehicles project.

The move was revealed by British Prime Minister David Cameron and Defense Secretary Philip Hammond on a visit to Lockheed Martin UK in Bedfordshire.

“As a key step towards meeting our requirements for Future Force 2020, the upgraded Warriors will give commanders and their soldiers greater flexibility and firepower.” Hammond said. “Not only is this fantastic news for the Army, it also represents a great boost to British industry—sustaining jobs, skills and capability within the UK’s armored vehicle sector.”

The Warrior will continue to be at the heart of the UK’s combat capability which will extend the service life of the military vehicles through to 2040 and beyond with state-of-the-art firepower and electronics.

This contract is good news for the British Army and the British economy, and more so the supplier chain networks which will benefit greatly from jobs within the design, engineering and maintenance sector.