Britain’s status as a top-tier aerospace manufacturer hangs by a thread. Leonardo Helicopters, the Italian defense giant, has issued a stark ultimatum to the Ministry of Defence (MoD): sign the £1 billion contract for new military helicopters by March, or the Yeovil factory closes.

The stakes are existential for the Somerset town of Yeovil. The factory, formerly Westland, supports 3,000 highly skilled jobs and a vast supply chain. It is the UK’s only remaining site capable of designing and building military helicopters from scratch.

The "Single Bidder" Standoff

Leonardo is the sole bidder for the UK’s "New Medium Helicopter" program, launched in 2024 to replace the aging Puma fleet. Despite this, the MoD has dithered for months, trapped in procurement bureaucracy. Leonardo CEO Roberto Cingolani has now played his hand, writing to Defence Secretary John Healey to warn that the company’s "best and final offer" expires in weeks.

• The Threat: Cingolani was blunt. "Any delay... would force a reevaluation of Leonardo’s UK presence." This includes not just the factory, but investments in cyber security and electronics divisions.
• The Union Fury: Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham accused the government of "dithering" while workers face redundancy. "These are sovereign capabilities," she argued. "You cannot buy national security off the shelf from America forever."

A Strategic Gamble

The MoD claims the defense budget is rising to record levels ($270bn), but the delay on this specific contract suggests a paralysis at the heart of procurement. If Leonardo walks, Britain loses more than jobs; it loses the industrial capacity to maintain its own rotary fleet in wartime. The clock is ticking toward March, and in Yeovil, the silence on the factory floor is deafening.