A second US defence contractor has been purchased by the British. Qinetiq is paying $130m ((£72m) to buy Westar Aerospace & Defence. Westar based in St Louis works mainly for the Pentagon on defence contracts.

The deal is the second by Qinetiq in a week. Foster-Miller was brought last week for $160m.

Other acquisitions in the area include DigitalNet Holdings by BAE, yesterday.

US revenues will rise to $290m for Qinetiq. The next twelve months are seen as a period of consolidation for Qinetiq.

Of course Qinetiq is not entirely British. The ex-government research laboratory is 31% owned by the US private equity group Carlyle.