Defence specialist Ultra, which has a major facility at Rugeley in Staffordshire, yesterday said its Precision Air Systems business had clinched a £27 million deal to supply HiPPAG on-board compressors for the second tranche of the Eurofighter Typhoon programme.

The HiPPAG 320 is a miniature, electronically controlled, pure air compressor and filtration system, designed as an on-board source of pure air for cooling the infra-red seek-ers of the warplane's air-to-air missiles.

Douglas Caster, chief executive of Ultra, said: "This important contract emphasises the superiority of Ultra's innovative HiPPAG technology to meet this key requirement.

"HiPPAG is demonstrating impressive reliability and a low cost of ownership, not just for missile cooling but also in providing the energy source for advanced weapons ejection systems on the US Small Diameter Bomb and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programmes.

"This award caps a highly successful Farnborough International Airshow for Ultra. Within a week, the group has announced new business worth £100 million, including the contract to supply Litening pods which is also to be fitted to Eurofighter.

"Ultra's strong order book and position on a broad range of international programmes underpin the resilience of the group's performance."