Indian helicopter deal saves 4,000 jobs in UK
The jobs of up to 4,000 UK workers were secured when AgustaWestland revealed that it had won a 560 million (£510 million) contract to supply helicopters to India.
Westland will build 12 AW101s for the Indian Air Force, which will be used for transporting the countrys Prime Minister, President and other VIPs.
The helicopters, called Merlins by the British Armed Forces, will be built at Westlands factory in Yeovil and the contract is a boost for the struggling programme. The government said last December that it would scrap a long-term plan to buy up to 70 medium-lift helicopters for the Armed Forces and instead purchase 22 Chinooks from Boeing. The Merlin had been a favourite to win the Ministry of Defence (MoD) order and the cancellation had raised questions over the future of the Yeovil facility.
Westland is building 62 smaller Wildcat helicopters as part of a £1 billion contract with the MoD, but it now needs export orders to keep the AW101 production line open. Defence officials had raised the prospect of it becoming little more than a repair shop for the UKs existing fleet of helicopters if such orders could not be won.
Howard Wheeldon, strategist at BGC Partners, the broker, said: "This is very good news for British jobs, not just at Westland but thousands of suppliers in this country. And this is potentially only the start of a relationship with India as they could take more 101s."
Westland has built 70 Merlins for the UK and has won orders to supply Portugal and Denmark. The factory is also building AW101 helicopters for Italy and other, unnamed, countries.
The AW101 had been selected to replace the ageing fleet of US presidential helicopters, but the deal was scrapped last year amid rising costs. Westland hopes to rejoin the running for that contract, where it is likely go up against Sikorskys S92, the helicopter it was competing against in India.
The Indian deal comes as AgustaWestland strengthens its ties with the country. Last month it signed a partnership with Tata & Sons, which owns Jaguar Land Rover, to build its AW119 helicopter in India.