AN LED manufacturer has been awarded a £3.7m contract with the British Army.

Oxley Group in Ulverson has secured its position as leading the global market in vehicle lighting following the award of the contract for LED lighting on the British Army’s new Boxer vehicles.

The contract is worth £3.7M and has been jointly awarded by Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL) and Rheinmetall Landsysteme (RLS).

Oxley Group will be providing internal lighting, directed lighting, search lights and IR lights on to Boxer vehicles until 2030 as part of the UK MOD’s Mechanised Infantry Vehicle (MIV) programme.

The end-to-end design and manufacture of the lighting will be undertaken by a skilled team of 150 engineers and support staff at the Oxley site in Ulverston. This contract will support further growth and protect key manufacturing skills in the UK, including the apprentices currently receiving training within the organisation.

The Boxer vehicles will be equipped with the ’best in class’ LED lighting.  Oxley lighting solutions offer high-build quality and high performance, as well as meeting the most stringent EMC and power standards. Oxley has many decades’ experience in manufacturing LED lighting with excellent optical performance and advanced technical characteristics, specifically designed for military vehicle applications.

Darren Cavan, Oxley Group CEO said: “We’re delighted to be awarded this contract, to be part of a prestigious advanced technological platform such as the Boxer is confirmation of our world leading position in the provision of high-performance lighting for military vehicles and we look forward to working in partnership with the RSBL and RLS teams as this programme develops.”

Simon Fell, MP for Barrow & Furness said: “This contract shows just how well regarded the fantastic Oxley team are. They are world-leaders in producing LED lighting for the defence industry and, in their 80th year, are showing that their brightest days remain ahead of them. This contract will secure jobs and enable the business to plan for the future, further cementing Ulverston’s position as an advanced manufacturing centre. The team should be rightly proud of being selected to deliver this contract.”

Stuart Evans, RBSL Project Director for the Boxer Programme said: “It is a pleasure to announce this latest contract award as it will not only help us to successfully deliver the Boxer programme for the British Army, but it will secure jobs and protect UK manufacturing skills.
“We are making great progress in developing the programme and we look forward to working with Oxley Group as we commence the next phase of the project.”

The MIV programme aims to support and enhance the UK supply chain. As such, RBSL and RLS are part of a MIV Joint Procurement Team, which has engaged suppliers in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.  This contract is the latest in a series of supplier contracts for the MIV programme.