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15/01/2014
£100m Weapons Contract Announced
David Cameron has announced a weapons export contract worth over £100m for Thales Air Defence.
Thales, based in Belfast and Crossgar, County Down, designs and manufactures missiles within the Thales Group.
The new export order for ForceSHIELD, Thales’ integrated Advanced Air Defence system, includes STARStreak short range air defence missiles and RAPIDRanger vehicle-based launcher systems.
All are designed, developed and manufactured in Northern Ireland.
The company, which is part of Thales’ Land and Air Systems operations, employs around 500 people at its design and manufacturing facility in Belfast and at its integration facility at Crossgar.
Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster said: "This valuable contract represents a break through in Air Defence sales for Thales UK and will help sustain jobs at the firm’s sites in Northern Ireland.
"Thales operates at the cutting edge of engineering and has benefited from Invest Northern Ireland support over the years to develop and extend its design capabilities, manufacturing skills and meet the needs of international customers."
In October, Thales UK confirmed it had signed a contract with the Ministry of Defence (MOD) for a further 200 STARStreak short-range surface-to-air missiles.
Alliance East Belfast MLA Judith Cochrane: "This contract will help secure jobs at Thales’ east Belfast site.
"It shows that Northern Ireland can play a part in international business deals. This contract will be a big boost to the local and wider Northern Ireland economy. It is the latest in a number of positive signs for our economy following major deals and job announcements at companies including Bombardier and Stream Global Services.
"In 2012, Thales made 50 of its employees redundant, so I hope this contract will help sustain the employment of its workers in east Belfast."
(IT/MH)
Thales, based in Belfast and Crossgar, County Down, designs and manufactures missiles within the Thales Group.
The new export order for ForceSHIELD, Thales’ integrated Advanced Air Defence system, includes STARStreak short range air defence missiles and RAPIDRanger vehicle-based launcher systems.
All are designed, developed and manufactured in Northern Ireland.
The company, which is part of Thales’ Land and Air Systems operations, employs around 500 people at its design and manufacturing facility in Belfast and at its integration facility at Crossgar.
Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster said: "This valuable contract represents a break through in Air Defence sales for Thales UK and will help sustain jobs at the firm’s sites in Northern Ireland.
"Thales operates at the cutting edge of engineering and has benefited from Invest Northern Ireland support over the years to develop and extend its design capabilities, manufacturing skills and meet the needs of international customers."
In October, Thales UK confirmed it had signed a contract with the Ministry of Defence (MOD) for a further 200 STARStreak short-range surface-to-air missiles.
Alliance East Belfast MLA Judith Cochrane: "This contract will help secure jobs at Thales’ east Belfast site.
"It shows that Northern Ireland can play a part in international business deals. This contract will be a big boost to the local and wider Northern Ireland economy. It is the latest in a number of positive signs for our economy following major deals and job announcements at companies including Bombardier and Stream Global Services.
"In 2012, Thales made 50 of its employees redundant, so I hope this contract will help sustain the employment of its workers in east Belfast."
(IT/MH)
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