A Sudbury aerospace engineering firm has scooped a new four-year contract with the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

MEL Aviation won a bid worth £470,000 to design organisation support, spares, repair and post design services (PDS) to aircraft dehumidifiers for the Air Support, Air Commodities Project Team based at MoD-Bristol UK.

They will be used to provide the ambient climate required to keep military aircraft in optimal condition and flight-ready.

The company will act as the co-ordinating design organisation (CDO) by providing maintenance, repair and spares for the Royal Air Force. It will also produce design records, air publications, equipment safety cases and design certificates to support the contract.

Managing director Gary Harvey said they were “thrilled” to have been awarded the key contract.

“We are constantly developing new and improved repair, maintenance and overhaul services to help to keep both the civil and military aviation sectors working seamlessly and this is another example of one of our recent successes,” he said.

“Dehumidification is critical for aircraft environments today and so an essential part of storage and maintenance operations for the armed forces. Aircraft are usually stored with fuel and avionics systems in place and for this reason rely on a controlled dry air dehumidified environment to keep them ready for flight.”

MEL Aviation has a long and ongoing relationship with the MoD, supplying it with a wide range of design, manufacture, repair and overhaul services.

“We will continue to strive to be the contractor of choice for the MOD,” said Mr Harvey.

Long-term aircraft storage and maintenance is a complex process, as without the right, controlled environment, an aircraft can potentially require thousands of man-hours to return it to flight-worthiness.

The MEL Group designs and makes ground support equipment and airborne components, and repairs and overhauls civil and military aerospace and defence products.