British defence giant Qinetiq wins US military deal just a day after £490m Stateside takeover
British defence technology giant Qinetiq has snagged a $45m (£37.1m) contract with the US military to provide cyber, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance services.
The London-listed science and engineering firm, which will also provide communications, control and computers, over a one-year base period, with the option to extend by four more one-year terms.
It comes just a day after the company announced it would buy US defence firm Avantus Federal for $590m (£487m), which forms part of boss Steve Wadey’s planned takeover spree of US and Australian firms in a bid to grow the business by 75 per cent in five years.
The deal will double the size of the FTSE 250 firm’s US business, and has been touted as an outlier in the growing trend of US companies taking over British aerospace and defence firms, such as Cobham, Ultra and Meggitt.
Qinetiq is the latest British technology firm to have caught the eyes of the US Army, the largest military force in the world.
All Space, formerly known as Isotropic Systems, in March cut a deal with the US Army to test its ground terminals, which allow users to access several satellites through one piece of multi-link technology.
The testing, part of the US Air Force’s innovative Defence Experimentation Using Commercial Space Internet (DEUCSI) program, seeks to demonstrate the terminal’s abilities to maintain connectivity under challenging military conditions.
The British satellite company, backed by London-listed space investment trust Seraphim, is on track for its first commercial launches this year.