A SOUTHAMPTON company is today on the verge of securing a multi-million pound deal to help build a futuristic anti-tank weapon.

GEC Marconi Infrared has cleared a major hur-dle in its bid to land the deal, worth tens of millions of pounds and create new jobs.

It is a huge boost for the defence industry in the South and comes as hundreds of the region's troops are poised to play a major part in the Kosovo peacekeeping task force.

The company has spent 11 years developing a detector system for the shoulder-launched missile.

Ministers yesterday announced their approval for the system. There will now be a bidding round to see who wins the work but the company believes it is well placed.

A decision on the winner will be made by the end of the year.

If it secures the contract to build the detector it would generate 20 new jobs and secure work for several years at its factory in Millbrook Industrial Estate, where 230 people are employed.

Eileen Read, director and general manager, said: "We are very pleased and excited that it is going ahead."

The company is part of a consortium that will make the medium range anti-tank guided weapon system, known as Trigat.

GEC Marconi Infrared has created a detector which reads patterns from the missile's laser to ensure it locks on to its target. Ministers announced that the MoD would go ahead with the missile for the army in collaboration with France, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.

There could be potential to export the weapon abroad and to upgrade the missile system. The Ministry of Defence is also considering whether to order a lighter version of the missile for airborne and com-mando units.

Eastleigh MP David Chidgey wrote to ministers over a period of six months urging them to boost British design and export. Mr Chidgey said: "I am very pleased. After many months of lobbying on the importance of the long-term future of our defence industry in making this decision they have accepted the importance of maintaining our home indus-try rather than purchasing the off-the-shelf option."

Alan Whitehead, MP for Southampton Test, said: "We have a company in Southampton that is in the leading edge of world technologies."

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