The contract will see Avon Protection continue to supply and support the General Service Respirator (GSR) for all branches of the UK military’s forces from its facility in Melksham, Wiltshire.
9 May 2024, Melksham, UK: Avon Protection, the leader in innovative CBRN personal protective equipment, is pleased to announce that it has been awarded the continued supply of the General Service Respirator (GSR) and associated in service support contract by the UK Ministry of Defence.
The contract, over four years, with five further 12-month option periods is valued at up to £38 million.
The twin-canister, single-visor GSR is the standard issue respirator for all UK service personnel across the British Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy. Designed and manufactured to the UK MoD’s precise specifications, it provides high-performance filtration protection for users operating in CBRN threat environments.
Avon Protection was first awarded the contract to supply and support the GSR in 2018. Since then, it has supplied over 90,000 GSRs to UK MoD users from its facility in Melksham, Wiltshire. This new contract will sustain many highly skilled jobs at the Melksham facility as well as in the supply chain that is primarily based in the United Kingdom – ensuring the nation maintains sovereign CBRN protection capability through domestic production and R&D.
“We are proud to have secured this new contract with the UK MoD, reaffirming our commitment to providing sovereign capability and unparalleled protection for those who tirelessly defend our nation,” Steve Elwell, President of Avon Protection, said. “We remain dedicated to delivering excellence so our protectors can complete their mission and come home safely, every time.”
“We welcome the award of this contract, which will ensure continued support of the respiratory protection available to our armed forces. We have worked with Avon on supporting GSR for the past 6 years and look forward to continuing this relationship, offering high levels of protection to our troops across the world,” Richard Bloomfield, Head of Electronic Warfare and CBRN at Defence Equipment and Support, said.
“This award demonstrates the strength of our technology and our commitment to protecting those who protect us by providing a world-leading sovereign CBRN protection capability from our facility in Wiltshire,” Jos Sclater, Chief Executive Officer, Avon Protection plc, said. “As we have seen with the reported deployment of chemical agents in Ukraine and in other recent conflicts, the highest grade CBRN protection is critical to operational capability for warfighters in the evolving reality of near-peer, hybrid warfare. We are very proud to have won this tender with the UK MoD and to continue support the UK’s objectives of providing the highest quality, most reliable and trusted protection equipment for our service men and women.”