Babcock wins French Air Force contract

5th Jan 2017 09:15

(ShareCast News) - Babcock International has been awarded a contract by France's Direction Générale de l'Armement to provide and maintain a training platform and related services for the French Air Force.The defence outsourcer said the 11-year contract will provide new training aircraft, related simulators and modernised training facilities for the training of fighter jet crews to be performed by the Air Force itself.Babcock's share of the contract is expected to be worth more than €500m, around half of which relates to the financing of assets for the customer. The contract will start immediately and the first aircraft will be delivered in March 2018.Chief executive Archie Bethel said: "We are delighted that our French company will be working as a key support partner on this major French defence contract. The project will draw on our expertise in the European aviation industry and our experience of delivering long-term military flight training programmes. We look forward to working with the French Air Force over the next decade." At 0926 GMT, the shares were up 0.4% to 954.50p.