Wiltshire-based specialist manufacturer Avon Rubber has won an order worth $33m (£19.6m) from the US Department of Defense (DoD) for 135,000 of its M50 protection masks.
The order is an extension of an earlier contract with the Pentagon under which Melksham-based Avon has supplied the masks for use by the US armed forces and homeland security organisations. 
Avon said the order announced this morning meant the group would perform in line with expectations for the remainder of this financial year and gave it “excellent visibility of M50 sales for well into our 2015 financial year”.
Chief executive Peter Slabbert said: “This order demonstrates the DOD’s continued commitment to Avon’s market-leading high-technology M50 mask to meet their complex operational requirements.”
