UK MOD AWARDS COUGAR SERVICE CONTRACT TO MORGAN-LED CONSORTIUM

A consortium consisting of leading UKbased and owned defence companies has secured a contract to support and develop the UK Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) Cougar protected patrol vehicles (PPVs), which are returning from Afghanistan. Led by Morgan Advanced Materials and including Ricardo and Ultra Electronics, the consortium will cover the provision of technical and project management services for the in-service Cougar family, including the Mastiff, Ridgback and Wolfhound fleets. Worth up to £20m over the first two years, the Cougar PostDesign Service (PDS) programme covers a fleet of more than 600 vehicles, with more than 20 variants, and could be extended for a further five years. The agreement will focus on the optimisation of safety, configuration management, legal compliance and standardisation of the platforms through rationalisation of the component supply chain. UK Defence Minister Philip Dunne said the Cougar, Mastiff, Ridgback and Wolfhound fleets have proven themselves on operations, and will now support a more efficient army.