NEWTOWN, Conn. - Lockheed Martin announced on October 21 that it plans to establish a new production line in the United Kingdom that will produce the turrets for the British Army's SCOUT SV armored platform.
The SCOUT SV is one of the British Army's most critical force modernization projects, but faced considerable hurdles due to developmental delays, infighting amongst participating contractors and broad funding challenges due to the austere fiscal environment that continues to prevail in the UK.
However, in September, the UK MoD officially awarded General Dynamics, the prime contractor for the SCOUT SV program, a £3.5 billion contract for 589 SCOUT SV platforms for service with the British Army.
With the future of the program now secure, Lockheed Martin will move forward with turret production for 245 of the vehicles on order. All of the turrets will integrate a CTA International 40mm cannon and advanced fire-control and imaging systems.
The 245 turrets on order, worth £618 ($1 billion), will be manufactured at Lockheed Martin's production facility in Ampthill, Bedfordshire, though final vehicle assembly for the first 100 SCOUT SV vehicles will be undertaken by General Dynamics facilities in Spain.
Lockheed Martin plans to deliver the first turrets to the British Army for testing in 2015, ahead of the planned delivery date for complete SCOUT SV vehicles in 2017.