Vehicle integrator and armour manufacturer NP Aerospace has been awarded a GBP 71 million (EUR 84.3 million) wheeled vehicle support contract by the UK Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) organisation of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), the company announced on 18 September 2024.
The Conventional Vehicle Systems Spares and Post Design Services (CVSSP) contract, as it is known, was competitively tendered by the MoD and has a duration of four years with two options to extend beyond that, of a further one year each.
The CVSSP contract will see NP Aerospace deliver post-design services (PDS), design authority (DA) and spares procurement services to a fleet of over 15,000 UK MoD core vehicles, including: the entire Land Rover fleet, including protected Land Rovers and Revised Weapons Mounted Installation Kit (RWMIK) vehicles; the Pinzgauer fleet; and the Lightweight Trailer fleet. The contract consolidates and amalgamates former previously individual MoD PDS contracts, providing a new single point of contact.
Obsolescence management is a key challenge with some of the MoD’s ageing fleets and the CVSSP contract will ensure that vehicle fleet availability is maintained at the required levels to meet the operational and training needs.
In 2019 NP Aerospace won a similar vehicle support contract, known as the Protected Mobility Engineering & Technical Support (PMETS) contract, that has since been successfully supporting the MoD’s fleet of over 2,000 protected mobility vehicles. The vehicles covered under the PMETS contract include the Mastiff, Wolfhound, Ridgback, Buffalo, Choker, RODET, Foxhound, Jackal, Coyote and Husky fleets.
“Having been successfully delivering PMETS for five years, NP Aerospace is now perfectly placed to align the newly awarded CVSSP contract alongside PMETS using tried and tested procedures that have already gained the confidence of the UK MoD,” the company stated.
Brigadier Matt Wilkinson from the DE&S Vehicle Support Team, was quoted by NP Aerospace as saying, “We have a long-standing relationship with NP Aerospace and I’m delighted that we are able to continue this partnership. Not only does it provide the best possible service to the armed forces, but it also aligns with the MoD’s future Land Industrial Strategy initiatives, including an evolution to Land Integrated Operating Services (LIOS).”
NP Aerospace CEO James Kempston added, “This announcement is huge news for the team at NP Aerospace and we’re all delighted to have won this major contract against strong competition. It shows the high regard in which our services are held by the UK MoD and that we deliver best value for our customer.
“The CVSSP contract aligns well with NP Aerospace’s abilities to support the MoD’s future LIOS initiative and the Land Mobility and Land Industrial Strategy,” Kempston added. “The CVSSP award, together with our current PMETS contract, provides NP Aerospace with the post-design support contracts covering the vast majority of the UK MoD’s lightweight wheeled utility and protected mobility vehicle fleets.”
