YEOVIL MP Marcus Fysh has welcomed a new £260million Ministry of Defence contract with Leonardo as a sign of confidence and ambition building on the Strategic Partnership Agreement announced last year.

“The deal to supply Identity Friend or Foe equipment will be rolled out in phases across military platforms to allow land, sea and air units to quickly identify friendly forces and operate safely alongside NATO allies.

This contract is a huge endorsement of Leonardo in the UK and its exciting, world beating technology.

As the rollout of this technology continues to the next tranche I want to see some of that work being done in Somerset and will be pushing the Ministry of Defence to see that happen as soon as possible.

We have the skills and workforce to bring this IFF technology to our Wildcat and Merlin helicopters and there are export opportunities too.

As the MP for Yeovil, I’m excited about this good news for Leonardo and the opportunities it will bring here but more generally it’s really positive that in this country we lead the world in technology like this.

It is so important that our military personnel are given the best equipment to support them in their roles and reducing the risk of friendly fire is absolutely key in modern conflict.”