Defence Minister has announced that the
Ministry of Defence (MOD) has signed a £250 million deal to
support the RAF’s intelligence-gathering Shadow aircraft fleet,
supporting 450 jobs.
Shadow is a highly capable intelligence, surveillance and
reconnaissance aircraft which performs crucial
intelligence-gathering on operations all over the world.
Shadow, flown by 14 Squadron RAF, has been on operations above
battlefields including Iraq and Afghanistan.
The newly-signed contract with Raytheon will sustain 200 jobs at
the company’s facilities in Broughton, North Wales and hundreds
more across the UK supply chain.
Services will also be established at RAF Waddington, the home of
the RAF’s ISTAR fleet, to ensure aircraft availability under the
new contract.
Defence Minister said:
This £250 million investment will ensure the UK retains its
position as a global leader in battlefield intelligence gathering
for UK troops and our NATO allies. It is also great news for the
economy through the safeguarding of 450 skilled jobs across the
country, including 200 in North Wales, confirming the region as a
UK centre of excellence for air support.
The support contract will provide maintenance, airworthiness,
design and supplier management services as well as modification
and integration work which will allow Shadow to be upgraded in
the future.
DE&S Chief Executive Officer Sir Simon Bollom said:
DE&S is proud to continue to work with our partners across
industry to deliver world-class support to the RAF’s Shadow
fleet. The continuing investment in support safeguards jobs and
expertise which will provide safe and available aircraft in
support of UK troops.
Under commitments laid out in the 2015 Strategic Defence and
Security Review, the UK is bringing a total of eight Shadow
aircraft into RAF service.
Air ISTAR Programme Director, Group Captain Shaun Gee:
This contract award marks a key milestone in cementing the
excellent partnership between the MOD with RSL(UK). It delivers
vital ongoing support to operations and, crucially, enables
future, rapid development of the SHADOW Platform which will
ensure the capability remains at the cutting edge of technology
providing a world-class tactical ISR capability for the UK.
