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February 25th 2010 - General Dynamics UK expects to provide over 10,500 UK jobs if it wins FRES SV competition

Employment to be created or protected in eight regions of the UK by ASCOD SV manufacture

Eight regions of the UK are set to benefit in terms of employment if General Dynamics UK wins the FRES SV (Future Rapid Effects System – Specialist Vehicle) competition, safeguarding the key skills necessary to sustain future capabilities for Armoured Fighting Vehicle (AFV) development and production in the UK. The company believes over 10,500 jobs will be created or safeguarded for British-based companies and organisations in the long term should the UK Ministry of Defence award the programme to General Dynamics UK.

Wales would be one of the first regions to benefit as it is the main operational base of General Dynamics UK. General Dynamics UK already employs over 100 people directly on the FRES SV programme. Once selected as prime contractor, General Dynamics UK would expect to add over 200 more jobs to the FRES SV project team.

The West Midlands would also be a big winner. On 9 February 2010, General Dynamics UK announced that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the MoD’s Defence Services Group (DSG) to transfer Assembly, Integration and Test for full-rate production of ASCOD SV, General Dynamics UK’s FRES SV contender, to DSG’s Donnington facility should the company secure the contract. This activity would be expected to secure over 600 jobs in the Donnington and Telford area.

The East of England, where Lockheed Martin UK INSYS, the turret provider for the FRES SV Scout variant, is based is also expected to benefit. Over 500 jobs will be divided between Lockheed Martin and its own supply chain.

In addition, General Dynamics UK’s FRES SV supply chain comprises key suppliers in Scotland, the North of England, the North West, the East Midlands and the South of England as well as additional suppliers in Wales and the West Midlands. Overall jobs secured or added in this supply chain are expected to total 6,000 direct jobs and a further 3,000 indirect jobs.

Through-life support roles for the FRES SV programme are expected to add over 200 long-term highly-skilled jobs to the total.

ASCOD SV is the latest development of a proven European AFV family for FRES SV. Capable of full operation at 42 tonnes and with a transmission rated at 45 tonnes, ASCOD SV offers the latest protection against current and future threats, a common-base-platform that fully meets the FRES SV requirement, and provides the best growth potential for future enhancement. This performance is based on the technical maturity of the driveline, which enables tremendous through-life growth.  This is a significant advantage for the programme, which is founded on a common-base-platform to satisfy the full FRES SV fleet of 1200-plus vehicles, including the heavy weight Direct Fire and Bridge-Layer variants, right from the very start.

Employment figures at a glance