Hundreds of jobs secured at Leonardo’s helicopters facility in Yeovil

The Royal Navy’s AW101 Merlin helicopters will receive maintenance under a £165 million contract extension. 

A thousand British jobs are said to be supported by a deal to strengthen the fleet of sub-hunting helicopters, according to a UK Ministry of Defence and Defence Equipment and Support press release published on 1 April. 

It states: The contract extension will sustain 200 jobs at Leonardo’s helicopters facility in Yeovil, Somerset, and 800 more across the wider UK supply chain, and covers the fleet of 30 Merlin Mk2 maritime patrol helicopters and 24 Merlin Mk4 amphibious and battlefield lift aircraft. 

The Mk2 helicopters are submarine hunters and can also carry out search and rescue operations, intercept drug runners and pirates, and support humanitarian relief efforts. Armed with Sting-Ray Torpedoes and M3M .50 calibre machine guns, the Mk2 helicopters provide the Royal Navy with anti-submarine and anti-surface support. 

They also use powerful radars high above the Navy’s carrier strike groups for airborne surveillance and control. The Mk4 fleet provides troop transport, casualty evacuation and can carry medium lift loads of up to 3.8 tonnes. 

These aircraft were recently deployed on Operation CLOCKWORK in Norway, which involved the training of Commando Helicopter Force air and ground crew and will participate in the upcoming Carrier Strike Group deployment. 

As well as jobs based in Somerset, the agreement will support jobs at RNAS Culdrose in Cornwall. Leonardo is the prime contractor for the expert maintenance, with Lockheed Martin and SERCO appointed as key sub-contractors. 

Nigel Colman, Managing Director, Leonardo Helicopters UK, said: 

“We’re extremely proud to have provided the UK’s AW101 Merlin fleet from the Home of British Helicopters in Yeovil. Working closely with the Ministry of Defence and Royal Navy, we’re keeping the Merlin fleet supported and available, so it’s ready to fly whenever and wherever it’s called upon. 

“At the same time, we’re looking towards how Merlin will be supported in the years to come under the Rotary Wing Enterprise (RWE) agreement, which will transform how support will be delivered across the whole UK rotary fleet.” 

For the full press release on the announcement, please see here: 1,000 British jobs supported by deal to bolster fleet of sub-hunting helicopters – GOV.UK