UK defence and training support company MASS has been awarded an extension of the Joint Command And Staff Training (JCAST) contract it delivers for UK Strategic Command for a further year until July 2025, the company announced on 17 May 2023.

The contract extension, worth over GBP 5 M (EUR 5.75 M), will be the fifth consecutive year MASS has delivered the JCAST contract.

Under the contract MASS delivers a comprehensive joint warfare training support programme to UK Strategic Command and other elements of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD). It will continue to provide a complete operational-level exercise design, preparation, delivery and analysis support capability.

The tasks covered within MASS’s remit include design and delivery of essential pre-employment training for UK and international staff officers joining operational HQs, a ‘lessons learned’ support capability for the UK’s Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) and the MoD, and a pan-defence data management service.

MASS, a subsidiary of Cohort plc, has delivered a complete operational-level exercise design, preparation, delivery and analysis support capability for the MoD for over 20 years. The company says its training support package is “continually developing to accurately reflect the demands of the current operating environment, including the challenges of responding to sub-threshold ‘grey zone’ threats”.

MASS has delivered an operational-level exercise design, preparation, delivery and analysis support capability for the UK MoD for over 20 years. (Photo: MASS)

In making the contract award, Rear Admiral Andrew Betton, Director Joint Warfare, said, “We are very pleased to retain MASS as our support partner as its agile and dynamic service has provided highly credible and suitably challenging training solutions to meet each new task across a diverse spectrum.”

Chris Stanley, Managing Director of MASS, said: “Our partnering approach to contract delivery provides the essential flexible, cost-effective solution for the rapidly evolving support requirements of Joint Warfare. We are proud of our longstanding relationship with Joint Warfare and will continue to develop our support package throughout the duration of the JCAST contract to ensure it provides an accurate representation of today’s multi-faceted operating environment.”

Peter Felstead