Thales awarded £48 million for FASGW(L) work
Thales will demonstrate and manufacture the Future Anti Surface Guided Weapon (Light) - FASGW(L) - system for the Royal Navy’s AW159 Wildcat helicopter. The company has been awarded £48 million by the UK Ministry of Defence for the work.
The contract covers the development, qualification and integration of the FASGW(L) system and the provision of deployable test equipment.
FASGW(L) will comprise a five barrel launcher and laser guidance system. It will use Thales’s Lightweight Multirole Missile - a precision strike missile that can be fired from a variety of land, sea and airborne tactical platforms. The system will provide the Royal Navy with a versatile, rapidly-deployable and highly-effective capability to defeat the threat from small ships and inshore attack craft.
Philip Dunne, Minister of Defence, Equipment, Support and Technology, made the contract announcement during a visit to Thales’s Belfast facility, where both LMM and the FASGW equipment will be manufactured. Thales said the contract will sustain up to 60 jobs at the site and will provide additional opportunities for the supply chain partners in the UK and overseas.
Victor Chavez, CEO of Thales UK, said: ‘Thales’s LMM is the first lightweight missile in the world to be designed to integrate onto tactical air, land and naval platforms and there is much global interest in the capabilities it can deliver. This contract award will provide a great boost for our overseas prospects, as it shows the trust that MOD UK has placed in Thales to deliver this new advanced weapon system.’
Dunne commented: ‘I want to give the armed forces the battle-winning equipment they deserve, and this highly complex weapon system will provide Royal Navy Wildcat helicopters with unparalleled strike capabilities. I take great pride that these missiles are being made in the United Kingdom.’
Funding for the Future Anti-Surface Guided Weapon-Heavy/Anti-Navire Léger (FASGW(H)/ANL) was issued to MBDA by the UK MoD in March.
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