Weapons deal boost for east Belfast company Thales

The prime minister has said a deal worth more than £100m to supply military equipment to Indonesia is great news for 500 workers in east Belfast.

The contract is for missiles and defence systems made by Thales UK at its factory on Alanbrooke Road.

The company said Prime Minister David Cameron helped secure the order.

Mr Cameron said: "This deal is great news. It will help secure highly-skilled jobs in Northern Ireland."

The deal with the Indonesian ministry of defence includes the supply of Starstreak missiles and radar systems.

Thales has done business in the country before.

"I would like to express my gratitude to the prime minister for his personal support and the support of the government," Thales UK's CEO, Victor Chavez, said.

"It makes a huge difference to the industry and our customers."

The Northern Ireland arm of Thales was originally Shorts Missile Defence until it was bought over by the French multi-national in 2001.

Last year, it cut about 50 staff from its payroll in Belfast and another, smaller facility in Crossgar, County Down.

It blamed the move on cutbacks in global defence spending, but came at a time when it had just signed a deal to sell missiles to the army in Thailand.

  ♞ BBC