British firm set to clinch lucrative military bridging contract

WFEL has beaten off competition from foreign rivals to supply its equipment to the Swiss armed forces

Stockport-based defence engineering group WFEL is on the verge of clinching a £60 million sale of tactical military bridges to the Swiss armed forces.

The firm, which has 250 employees, has emerged as the only name on the short-list for the contract following an international procurement contest against several rivals. As part of its selection process, a delegation from the Swiss military inspected WFEL’ s advanced manufacturing facilities at its Stockport headquarters. 

The deal will now be passed to the Swiss Parliament via its defence committee for approval with a final decision expected by the end of the year.

Ian Wilson, WFEL’s chief executive, said: “We’re now nearing the conclusion of a rigorous procurement contest which has proven our engineering capability in the face of leading global competition.

“It has the potential to become one of the largest single contracts in our 75-year history in the North West and will help maintain our pace of sustained growth for several years to come.”

The contract will see WFEL provide the Swiss armed forces with its next generation bridging system, the Dry Support Bridge (DSB). The DSB can be deployed from a single launch vehicle to span gaps of up to 46 metres in less than 90 minutes. It is understood that WFEL would fit the DSBs to the chassis of the Swiss armed forces’ IVECO trucks.

WFEL is a prime contractor to the UK Ministry of Defence and has supplied its bridging systems to 39 armed forces across the world.