Avon Protection has been awarded the contract to continue supplying the General Service Respirator (GSR) and provide associated in-service support by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD).
The GSR is the primary respirator used by all UK service personnel in the British Army, Royal Air Force, and Royal Navy. It is specifically designed and manufactured to meet the precise requirements of the UK MoD for high-performance filtration protection in CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear) threat environments. The GSR features a twin-canister and single-visor design to provide maximum protection to the user.
Avon Protection won the contract to supply and support the GSR in 2018 and has since provided over 90,000 GSRs to the UK MoD from its Melksham, Wiltshire facility. The new contract will sustain highly skilled jobs in the Melksham facility and the UK supply chain. This will ensure that the UK maintains its 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 weapons 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.”
