Welsh firm secures £82m MoD deal

Welsh company Qioptiq has won an £82 million contract to maintain surveillance and targeting equipment for the UK’s armed forces.

The six-year deal covers handheld equipment, including night-vision goggles and day and night weapon sights, infantry periscopes, laser aimers and target locating equipment.

The new Surveillance Target and Acquisition Support (STAS) contract merges 20 individual support contracts into one deal, which will save the Ministry of Defence £47 million over the length of the contract.

Tony Douglas, chief executive of the MoD’s Defence Equipment and Support organisation, said: “This new deal with Qioptiq has reduced costs by a third, demonstrating how we are constantly striving to build innovation and value into defence procurement and support.”

The contract will create eight new jobs at the company, which employs about 560 at its St Asaph and Bodelwyddan sites.

Secretary of state for Wales, Alun Cairns, added: “This contract underlines Wales’ reputation as a world leader in the defence technology sector, coming hot on the heels of the choice of DECA Sealand as the global repair hub for the F35 aircraft.

“This enormous vote on confidence in the Welsh economy demonstrates that we offer the highly skilled workforce and facilities that investors need. It is also clearly great news for employment in the region.”

The contract was announced at IDEX, the biannual international defence exhibition and conference dedicated to unmanned systems held in Abu Dhabi.