Ministry of Defence agrees £410m Atlas contract

The deal will secure jobs will be sustained at GKN, Messier Dowty, Rolls-Royce and Thales.

The Ministry of Defence has agreed a £410 million maintenance contract for the UK’s Atlas A400M aircraft, securing a key part of the RAF airlift fleet until 2026.

The contract will sustain around 200 UK jobs with Airbus Defence and Space, focused around RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. An additional 200 jobs will be sustained at GKN, Messier Dowty, Rolls-Royce and Thales.

The contract with Airbus will pay for maintenance, upgrade and repair of the UK’s entire fleet of Atlas transport planes into the next decade.

The new deal draws on a separate two-year Global Support Contract worth £63 million that has also just been agreed with France and Spain, which will provide common support and spares services, and is the first step towards a 6-Nation Global Support arrangement.

Air Marshal Julian Young, Chief of Materiel (Air) at the MoD’s Defence Equipment & Support organisation, said: “The A400M Atlas will form the backbone of the Royal Air Force’s Strategic and Tactical Air Transport capability over the next decade and beyond.

“This key contract will deliver maintenance for our A400M Atlas fleet, enabling this class-leading aircraft to support UK military operations around the globe.”

The RAF has 14 Atlas aircraft in service, with the planned fleet of 22 scheduled to enter service by 2019. The aircraft will replace the existing fleet of C-130 Hercules.