MoD awards new military bridging contract to WFEL

WFEL, a supplier of rapidly deployable military bridges, has received a new contract from the Ministry of Defence for the supply of 17 Sets of its MGB Medium Girder Bridges. 

This follows a review of the MoD’s modular gap crossing capabilities, which aimed to draw together existing in-service capabilities into a single coherent capability.  

“These 17 new MGB bridging sets can be configured in several different ways to provide flexibility to the Commander on the ground.  Configurations include concurrent deployment of both a 31-metre Double-Storey and a 5-bay Single-Storey version. The bridging systems will be deployed by the Royal Engineers and are available for use in both Military Operations and Emergency Disaster Relief scenarios.”

The contract, worth more than £46 million, will not only provide continuing employment for 50 direct WFEL production-related personnel but is likely to create an additional 15 to 20 skilled and production support jobs. 

It’s also estimated that it will secure a further 100 jobs in the supply chain in the North of England and Scotland. 

 MGBs were deployed jointly by U.S. Marines and U.S. Navy Seabees in Norway during Exercise Trident Juncture 2018, in one of the largest NATO exercises of recent times.

Minister for Defence Procurement, Jeremy Quin MP, said: 

“This £46 million contract of new military bridges not only secures jobs within Stockport, but also supports a significant number of jobs in the wider UK supply chain. These bridges provide our Armed Forces with vital capabilities in both Military and Disaster Relief operations.”

The MGB contract will be fulfilled by Dec 2025, with the first two bridging sets delivered to the MoD by Dec 2021.