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Leonardo helicopter deal could create 600 new jobs
- On Monday, the UK Ministry of Defence announced a £1 billion contract to Leonardo for 23 AW149 helicopters, securing 3,300 jobs at Yeovil.
- After months of procurement delay, a dispute between the MoD and the Treasury left Yeovil at risk until the Treasury approved the £1 billion AW149 contract last week.
- Including technical details, the deal also funds Proteus, the UK’s first autonomous uncrewed air system, recently flown, and the AW149 can carry 16 troops over 545 nautical miles.
- The award immediately positions Yeovil as Leonardo's U.K. military helicopter hub and ties into plans to raise defence spending to 2.6 percent of GDP from 2027, officials say.
- Looking ahead, the programme could sustain up to 3,900 jobs, with Leonardo proposing to move AW149 export production from Vergiate, Italy to Yeovil to serve around 20 countries.
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Britain orders 23 new AW149 helicopters
The Ministry of Defence has confirmed an upgraded partnership with Leonardo that will see the AW149 selected under the New Medium Helicopter programme and Yeovil positioned as a future centre of excellence for autonomous rotary wing systems. The agreement forms part of what the government calls a wider reset of its industrial relationships, aligned with the Strategic Defence Review and the Defence Industrial Strategy. According to a statement, “…
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Total News Sources15
Leaning Left0Leaning Right1Center6Last UpdatedBias Distribution86% Center
Bias Distribution
- 86% of the sources are Center
86% Center
C 86%
14%
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