St Asaph-based firm handed “MASSIVE” £82m MOD contract to maintain surveillance and targeting equipment

A St Asaph-based firm has been handed a £82 million contract to provide maintenance for surveillance and targeting equipment to UK Armed Forces.

The deal with Qioptiq will see battle-winning handheld equipment – including night-vision goggles and day and night weapon sights – maintained over the next six years in north Wales.

Minister for Defence Procurement Harriett Baldwin announced the award of the contract at the IDEX trade show in Abu Dhabi

Work under the new Surveillance Target and Acquisition Support (STAS) contract will create eight new positions at the company, which employs around 560 at its St Asaph and Bodelwyddan sites.

By merging 20 individual support contracts into one deal, the MOD will save £47 million for the tax payer over the next six years.

The deal follows the recent announcement that Deeside will be a global repair hub providing maintenance services for F-35 fighter jet components, in a move worth millions for the region.

Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns said:

This massive contract for Qioptiq underlines Wales’ reputation as a world leader in the defence technology sector, coming hot on the heels of the choice of DECA Sealand as the global repair hub for the F35 aircraft.

This enormous vote on confidence in the Welsh economy demonstrates that we offer the highly skilled workforce and facilities that investors need. It is also clearly great news for employment in the region.

The contract covers equipment used across the Armed Forces, from frontline infantry to the Royal Marines, to military specialists such as bomb disposal experts.

It includes infantry periscopes, laser operators and target-locating equipment.