Chelmsford's Alenia Marconi Systems radar company has won a £40 million contract for a new long range radar for the Royal Navy's latest powerful Type 45 destroyer.

And another £100 million contract is being sought for 2004.

This radar forms part of the Principal Anti Air Missile System which will also be fitted to the new generation warship of the French and Italian navies.

The initial contract covers the development and supply of two radars. Alenia Marconi Systems is using equipment from Signaal of Holland, which will be enhanced by a new Alenia Marconi signal processor.

The initial contract will run for six years, managed from Chelmsford using skilled engineers and support staff in both Chelmsford and Signaal's base in Hengelo, Holland.

The second phase, to be awarded later this year and worth some £16m, will be an initial production order for radars for one French and one Italian warship.

The main production contract for all three navies and valued in excess of £100m is expected to be awarded during 2004 and is expected to become the mainstay of the UK, French and Italian navies.

It is likely to go on the Royal Navy's new generation aircraft carrier and other future warships.

"There is also tremendous export potential for supplying the S1850M radar to other navies for fitting to both new warships and the upgrade of existing ones," said a company spokeswoman.

Support for the 25 year life of the new radar is expected to be a major opportunity for the company's customer services business, also based in Chelmsford.

West Chelmsford MP Simon Burns said this week: "This is wonderful news and confirms Alenia Marconi Systems' position as a world leader in radar systems for naval air defence systems.

"Recent contracts recognise the world beating talents of Chelmsford's highly skilled electronics engineers and underpin the company's future in the town."

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