GTR Composites Group is pleased to announce the establishment of a new relationship with Make UK Defence, as new members from December 2025. Make UK Defence is a national not-for-profit, member owned defence trade association, part of Make UK – the manufacturers’ organisation. Make UK Defence champions and supports the UK’s innovative and diverse defence supply chain.
With a long history and rich pedigree embedded in the top echelons of motorsport, GTR are already established in the defence sector. To date, GTR has earned a successful track record in designing, manufacturing and delivering critically precise composite components for specialist use. Of particular note in the defence sector are: composite aircraft components for AW101 Merlin helicopter; composite housings for flotation and life raft systems on the Sikorsky S92 helicopter; composite components for 18 models of Martin-Baker ejection seats and the manufacture of a majority of the composite protected crew pods for fitment to the UK MoD’s Foxhound protected vehicle. This latter project saw GTR manufacture over 250 units eventually becoming the sole supplier of this specialist composite component to the Foxhound vehicle programme. At the time, this programme was an Urgent Operational Requirement, so an incredibly rapid response was required whilst maintaining the very best quality, in order to save lives in Afghanistan.
Richard Dove, CEO at GTR said: “this is another big step for us as we further develop our position and standing in the defence sector. We have worked on a number of defence programmes for many years and have become trusted partners of some key defence prime contractors, helping them to deliver the very best composite engineering products and services to help protect the lives of those operating in the most harsh environments. Joining Make UK Defence places us amongst the largest gathering of UK-based key defence sector suppliers, very much broadening our reach at a time when many companies urgently need advanced composite materials technology for products such as drones and other uncrewed defence systems. We look forward to working with Make UK Defence and their wider membership, going forward”.