Sheffield manufacturing: 50 jobs secured as BAE Systems wins £124m contract to make artillery parts in city
A British arms manufacturer has landed a £124m contract from the US Army to make artillery gun parts at a new factory in Sheffield.
BAE Systems will make titanium parts for the M777 howitzer in the north east of the city.
BAE announced in November it was setting up a factory employing 50. It comes after production - formerly at Barrow-in-Furness - had been stopped for “many years.”
John Borton, of BAE Systems Weapons Systems, said they were honoured to support NATO allies with the only “battle-proven” 155mm lightweight howitzer in the world.
He added: “We will continue to ensure the M777 remains king of artillery well into the future using technical insertions, long-range precision guided munition developments, and flexible mobility options.”
The restart of M777 production would allow buyers “to benefit from a hot production line and economies of scale,” he added.
BAE had seen interest in the gun from across Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
BAE Systems is one of the largest manufacturers in Britain and has more than 90,000 employees.
In July, Sheffield Forgemasters announced it would make artillery barrels to “keep Ukraine in the fight” against Russia.
The Brightside steelmaker is using its 10,000 tonne press to make forgings for artillery and tanks supplied by the UK after Russia’s full scale invasion in 2022.
The move marked a return to domestic production of forgings for gun barrels after a gap of 20 years.
Nationalised in July 2021, Forgemasters is now fully owned by the Ministry of Defence.
In March 2022, the company ended its supply contract with Gazprom following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.