A number of new developments affecting publicly traded defense companies emerged from this week's Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) exhibition in London.
Britain's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory says it has formed a partnership with Latrobe, Pa.-based machine tools maker Kennametal (KMT 3.27%) to open a research facility in Newport, South Wales. The new center will focus on the development of ceramic armor suitable for protecting full-sized armored vehicles, as well as body armor for individual soldiers. Aggregate funding for the new center is said to approximate $3.2 million.
Britain's Ministry of Defence signed an agreement to purchase 24 Foxhound armored vehicles from General Dynamics (GD 1.16%) subsidiary Force Protection Europe. Production of the vehicles, which feature MRAP-like V-shaped hulls, and are agile enough to reach top speeds of 70 mph, will result in $36.3 million in incremental revenues to General Dynamics, and take the number of Foxhounds ordered by the U.K. military to 400.
And in what might be the largest dollar-value announcement, the Royal Navy and Air Force signed a six-year agreement to have Rolls-Royce (RYCEY 4.00%) service the engines that power the services' respective Apache attack helicopters and Merlin anti-submarine warfare helos. The precise value of this contract was not disclosed, but the services did note that they expect to save more than $473 million in comparison to their previous service contracts.
