Babcock recommended for French Air Force contract

France’s Direction Generale de l’Armement has recommended that Babcock International be awarded a contract to provide and maintain a training platform and related services to the French Air Force.

The recommendation follows a competitive bid process and Babcock’s share of the contract is expected to be worth more than €400m.

Babcock said it is in advanced discussions with a leading French industrial partner regarding the execution of the 11-year contract to provide new training aircraft, related simulators and modernised training facilities for the training of fighter jet crews.

The final contract award will be subject to the successful completion of the French Ministere de la Defense's approval process, following the usual pre-contractual standstill period.

At 1200 GMT, Babcock shares were up 0.4% to 983.50p.