London, Ontario, Canada. 10 July 2020. Canadian First Nation owned global armour provider, NP Aerospace, has opened a new facility in London, Ontario and appointed a General Manager to drive future business growth.

Jessica Bland will oversee the running of the new 10,000 sq ft manufacturing facility and will be responsible for growing the business in Canada and North America. NP Aerospace currently has operations in the UK and Canada manufacturing and integrating medium calibre, lightweight vehicle armour for global platform programs, as well as a full portfolio of advanced personal armour solutions. Products include lightweight ballistic helmets, body armour plates, shields and bomb disposal suits used by world leading defence and security organisations.

Jessica has close to 20 years’ experience in the defence industry working for local London companies such as GDLS-C and Kongsberg Protech Systems Canada. She is involved with organisations including Southwestern Ontario Regional Chapter, Women in Defence & Securities (WiDS) and the Canadian Association for Defence and Security Industries (CADSI). In January 2019, Jessica joined NP Aerospace to oversee business development.

Jessica Bland, General Manager, NP Aerospace Canada, comments: “NP Aerospace Canada has grown rapidly in the last two years and it’s great to have been part of that. With a new facility and an expanding portfolio of global vehicle and personal armour programs, we are set for the next phase of our business development which will see expansion into the security and law enforcement markets where NP Aerospace is seeing growth globally.”

James Kempston, CEO, NP Aerospace, comments: “We are delighted to have Jessica on board driving the business in Canada and North America. She has extensive experience of complex global vehicle programs and personal armour technology requirements. As an agile SME located in London, Ontario, we can take advantage of regional defence opportunities and new global programs.”

The new facility in London will act as NP Aerospace’s North American Centre of excellence for vehicle armour manufacturing and survivability systems in support of existing and future customer programs.