Rotherham-based MTL Advanced (www.mtladv.com), part of the WEC Group, has won a new contract for the serial production of armoured steel hulls for one of the largest defence OEMs in Europe.

Karl Stewart, MTL Advanced director, said: “This contract demonstrates our continued growth and the confidence our customers have in the team to deliver projects of this type, on time and meeting exacting quality requirements.

It builds on the success of several recent multi-million pound contracts with NIMR Automotive, which were delivered on time and within budget.”

MTL Advanced is Europe’s largest contract manufacturer of armoured steel structures, with projects ranging from piece part kits, turrets and blast floors to fully fabricated, painted and assembled hulls.

Its global customer base drives the requirement for the company to carry large stocks of material produced by European mills including ‘high hard’ and ‘ultra high hard’ steels, as well as certain grades of aluminium.

MTL has been at the forefront of developing new capabilities for the processing of metallic materials for many years, and was the first company to develop a repeatable process for forming ‘ultra high hard’ steels.

In the last three years, MTL has received over £8.5 million of investment in ‘state of the art’ laser cutting, robotic welding and machining technology; the site houses the UK’s largest laser cutting machine with an automated
handling system.

There are also shot blasting and wet paint plants, as well as clean areas for carrying out assembly work.