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November 7th 2011 - MP for Islwyn, Chris Evans visits General Dynamics UK to see new Specialist Vehicle facility

South Wales – Chris Evans, Member of Parliament for Islwyn, the South Wales constituency where General Dynamics UK’s facilities are based, today visited the company’s Oakdale campus to see progress on the new £12 million purpose-built facility for the Specialist Vehicle (SV) programme.

Mr. Evans toured the new facility for the British Army’s SV programme at General Dynamics UK’s Oakdale campus, in which the company has invested £12 million of private venture money. The facility will feature systems integration labs for the testing and development of key elements of SV; garaging and delivery bays for development vehicles; facilities for SV partner companies and customers to work from; and meeting rooms and offices for the General Dynamics SV project team. The SV programme currently sustains over 300 high-value jobs in this part of South Wales and is expected to create further jobs as the programme moves into its production phase.

Oakdale is the original location of General Dynamics UK’s tactical communication systems business from where it has delivered the Bowman programme to the British Armed Forces for the last ten years. The further investment in the Oakdale campus for SV represents the company’s continuing commitment to South Wales.

On visiting the new Oakdale facility Chris Evans said: “As an anchor company for the Welsh economy, this investment marks a key stage in the growth of General Dynamics UK’s presence in South Wales and demonstrates its commitment to the local economy by bringing more high-value jobs to the area. This part of South Wales has benefited hugely from the presence of General Dynamics UK in Oakdale and I am delighted to see the company expanding its presence here.”

“As our local MP, Chris Evans understands the importance of General Dynamics UK to the local community in terms of direct and indirect employment, the higher than average salaries we pay and the wider economic benefit to the surrounding area,” commented Dr. Sandy Wilson, president and managing director of General Dynamics UK. “We greatly appreciate Chris’s continuing support as we move into the next stage of our presence here in South Wales with the imminent opening of the new SV facility at Oakdale.”

The SV family of vehicles is a top priority programme for the British Army and is essential to the MoD’s Future Force 2020 strategy. SV is a family of tracked vehicles based upon a Common Base Platform which will be configured to provide a wide range of variants including Recce, Repair and Recovery, Ambulance, Command and Control and several other variants. The Gross Vehicle Weight Rating of the Common Base Platform provides significant growth capacity for the vehicle’s planned 30-year life, as well as being able to accommodate heavy-weight variants such as bridge layers and 120mm Direct Fire vehicles. In its Scout variant, the vehicle will be equipped with an open electronic architecture hosting leading edge ISTAR sub-systems, providing ground breaking reconnaissance capability to British forces.