BAE Systems was awarded a $21 million contract to supply 155mm smoke and illuminating artillery rounds to Britain's Defense Ministry. The contract, which was awarded globally through the Defense Ministry's tender process, offers flexibility to add additional quantities in later years. Smoke and Illuminating rounds are used in the battlefield during day and night operations. The smoke rounds obscure the battlefield visually and in the thermal range. The shell bodies will be manufactured at BAE Systems' British facility in Washington, and the smoke and illuminating payloads will be assembled into the shells at the Glascoed facility in South Wales. BAE Systems will use German's Rheinmetall's Assegai Carrier design to save time and costs by not needing to develop the system.