AMPTHILL, Feb 11 2015: Senior officers from across the British Army have visited Lockheed Martin UK’s Ampthill site for an update on the key programmes that the company is delivering for the UK military.

Almost 100 representatives from across the Army, from Generals to Commanding Officers, were shown a range of capability that is being designed, manufactured and tested at Lockheed Martin’s facility in Bedfordshire.

Lockheed Martin UK is upgrading 380 of the Army’s Warrior vehicles with new mission systems and fully digital turrets. Last year, the Ampthill site was also awarded a contract for over £650 million to manufacture 245 turrets for the Scout SV vehicle.

Over £9 million of investment is being made in new infrastructure and manufacturing facilities at the site over the next 12 months ready for the turret production to begin in 2016.

The senior officers were given a tour of the new facilities and were also able to try out the new Warrior and Scout SV turrets.

Eleven suppliers from across the country who are key partners for Lockheed Martin in the Warrior and Scout SV programmes were also on display, highlighting the role of the supply chain in these important programmes.

The event was also a chance for some of the 900 employees based at Ampthill to learn more about the wide range of programmes that are being delivered from the 64 acre site. Staff were given the chance to sit in an Apache attack helicopter which had been flown in for the occasion to demonstrate Lockheed Martin’s weapons systems capability.