Engineering news
Lockheed Martin UK is to bid for the Ministry of Defence’s contract to upgrade the British Army’s Challenger 2 tanks.
In collaboration with Elbit Systems UK, Lockheed Martin UK will submit a proposal to undertake the Life Extension Project (LEP) that will see the main battle tanks remain in service until 2035.
The two companies announced their collaboration just 24 hours ahead of the closing date for the proposal submissions to undertake the Challenger Life Extension Programme (LEP), which could see up to 227 tanks updated at a cost of £600 million.
BAE Systems, which designed and built the original Challenger 2 tank, is also bidding for the contract with its ‘Team Challenger 2’ which includes General Dynamics, and a CMI Defence-Ricardo UK partnership has also announced its bid.
Lockheed Martin UK is the prime contractor for the Warrior Capability Sustainment Programme, which is upgrading a minimum of 380 armoured fighting vehicles for the Army. The company is also designing and delivering 245 turrets for the AJAX vehicles that are being produced by General Dynamics UK.
In June, a new £5.5 million manufacturing facility was opened at Lockheed Martin’s Ampthill site in Bedfordshire where work on Warrior and AJAX will be undertaken. If successful, the facilities would also be used to deliver the Challenger 2 LEP, creating and safeguarding jobs at the site.
Richard Muir, business development director from Lockheed Martin UK, said: “We have a proven track record of designing and delivering turrets for armoured fighting vehicles through the Warrior and AJAX programmes. The ability to transfer knowledge between programmes ensures commonality and reduces risk.
“We have invested millions of pounds in our facilities and have doubled our workforce of skilled engineers to develop our Ampthill site into a centre of excellence.
“By teaming with Elbit Systems UK, and using our established and predominantly UK-based supply chain, we’re confident we can offer an innovative solution to extend the life of Challenger 2 and deliver improved capability to the British Army.”
Elbit Systems produces a wide range of land-based sensors and systems in the defence industry.
The companies will now compete for two assessment phase contracts expected to run for two years.
Future production and delivery dates for the project are yet to be determined with the main investment decision point scheduled for 2019.