(Sharecast News) - QinetiQ said on Wednesday that it has been awarded a five-year $127m contract in the US from the Office of the Secretary of Defense Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO).

The defence technology firm will provide secure, technologically advanced services and products that will enable SCO to deploy new and enhanced capabilities in support of strategic operations.

QinetiQ said this contract builds on its existing work and "strong customer relationship" with SCO, generating incremental growth on previous work.

"The contract will support our customers' mission to identify, analyse, and prototype disruptive applications of new systems, and implement emerging technologies to create operational effects that counter strategic adversaries," it said.

Chief executive Steve Wadey said: "The award of this new contract is evidence of our US business continuing to deliver against our ambitious growth plan. The capabilities we acquired with Avantus last year are highly relevant to our customers and provide key services in support of their mission to solve some of the most complex national security challenges."