Stockport manufacturer wins US Department of Defense contract

Stockport-based defence manufacturer, WFEL, has been awarded another contract by the US Department of Defense for its dry support bridges.

The contract is upgrade a further tranche of dry support bridges (DSBs) already in-service with the US Army.

This contract allows 20 more DSBs to be enhanced, increasing gap-crossing capabilities from 40m to 46m. The deal follows on from a previous US Army contract for the upgrading of 60 dry support bridges.

The US Army holds around 120 dry support bridges in inventory and this upgrade package - developed with US Army Tank Automotive Command Centre (TACOM) - allows its original 40m DSBs to achieve the new standard capability.

Since 2013, all of the company’s DSBs supplied have been 46m variants. Already adopted by Australia, Switzerland and Turkey, this military bridging solution has recently been evaluated under an Assessment Phase contract as a replacement for the UK MoD’s ageing BR90 bridging systems.

WFEL’s managing director, Ian Anderton, said: “We’re continually working with our US Army customer to ensure all their DSB bridging equipment is fulfilling its maximum potential and the simplicity of these upgrade kits allows the DSB enhancement work to be carried out at the US Army’s facilities, with minimal disruption.”

The company recently supplied a further four Dry Support Bridges to the US Army, as part of the USA’s $4.8 billion European Deterrence Initiative to improve the USA’s readiness and responsiveness of NATO forces in Europe. DSBs have been used in combat and emergency scenarios worldwide, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Europe and South Korea.

WFEL www.wfel.com