(Reuters) -Britain’s biggest defence contractor, BAE Systems, secured new orders from the UK, a move by the government to strengthen production of munitions as Western governments seek to raise their defence supplies to Ukraine to combat Russia’s invasion.
“Most NATO armies use this as standard, and a new 190 million-pound ($244.42 million) BAE Systems contract – possible thanks to our defence spending uplift – will lead to the production of vastly more artillery shells for use by the UK and other allied forces,” the British government said in a statement. It said the deal with BAE will add 100 jobs at sites in England and Wales.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will also announce what the government calls an eight-fold increase in the UK’s production capacity of 155mm artillery ammunition at the NATO summit in Lithuania, his office said.
BAE System’s chief executive, Charles Woodburn, said the contract would enable the company to “significantly ramp up production and sustain vital sovereign capability to deliver cutting-edge munitions.”
Britain had announced in March that the country would add a total of 11 billion pounds to its defence budget over the next five years and it would be nearly 2.25% of GDP by 2025.
($1 = 0.7777 pounds)
(Reporting by Lavanya Ahire and Anirudh Saligrama in BengaluruEditing by Chris Reese and Leslie Adler)
