A COMPANY in North Yorkshire has signed a £9.5 million contract to manufacture specialist features for military transport aircraft.

Marshall Advanced Composites has sealed the five-year deal with Lockheed Martin, a global aerospace, defence, security, and advanced technologies company, to design and supply cockpit trim panels for its C-130J Super Hercules airlifter.

Marshall Advanced Composites, which is in Kirkbymoorside and employs more than 120 people, specialises in the design and manufacture of composite structures for aerospace, defence and mass transit markets.

Carl Morse, advanced composites general manager, said they were delighted to secure the contract. "It really is testament to the hard work of the team and strength of our partnership with Lockheed Martin.

“We’ve been supplying the panels for over 20 years and have historically been on a series of relatively short term contracts, however our proven

ability to drive cost out of the supply, outstanding on-time delivery record and appetite to innovate our processes has given our customer the

confidence to make another long-term commitment.

“We are all very proud to be able to play a part in supporting the valuable service of C-130 fleets across the world so often pressed into action to help

protect people in critical situations.”

The panels, manufactured at Marshall’s production facility in Ryedale, are supplied in various sizes and complexity in kits of 14 or 18 panels to form the centre console in the C-130 cockpit.

Advanced Composites is part of Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group, which has been maintaining, repairing and overhauling C-130s for more than

50 years.