A DEFENCE company in Poole has announced a significant expansion of its engineering team following a number of major contract awards.

Aish Technologies, based at Aish House, Broom Road, will be increasing its specialist engineering workforce by 25 per cent over the next few months.

The advanced systems design and manufacturing firm has recently secured contracts from MBDA, BAE Combat Systems and an unnamed overseas contractor.

Aish managing director Lloyd Bates said: "The expansion of our engineering team is a positive step towards the continued development of Aish Technologies and allows us to offer increased capability to our customers.

"It is rare to find such a comprehensive manufacturing solution in the defence market, where we can design, test, fabricate and assemble in-house."

Aish currently has more than 40 specialist engineers working within its Technology Centre.

New positions to be filled include mechanical, electrical, electronic and software engineers.

The company specialises in designing systems capable of surviving the harshest environments, meeting maritime defence standards to protect electronic equipment from shock, heat and vibration.

Last year the Echo reported how Aish Technologies was involved in one of the most significant projects in ship technology in recent times.

The company is part of the Shared Infrastructure project, which establishes common technology architecture across several Royal Navy warships.

It allows access to software, from navigation to sonar, through a single console.

BAE Systems, which developed the Shared Infrastructure platform, approached Aish to supply the rugged metal enclosures which house the operational equipment.

Mr Bates said: "It was a challenging 12 months last year and I am delighted to see Aish come through this period and continue to offer UK manufacturing jobs to our local area."