Avon Engineered Fabrications – a Mississippi, US-based subsidiary of the global polymer engineering group - secured the deal and will supply the contract.

The contract worth $10m runs for five years and the firm said it expected to deliver the initial order of tanks in the next financial year.

Avon Engineered Fabrications was originally founded to make skirts for hovercraft and air cushion vehicles. It now also manufactures flexible tanks from tough durable polymer coated fabrics.

Chief executive Peter Slabbert said: “We are delighted to have secured the award of this multiyear contract. It will contribute significantly towards our objective of returning the group to profitability.”

The order follows a previous $112m, five year contract Avon Rubber secured with the US Department of Defense for the M50 respirator.

Avon has been dogged with problems relating to this order due to delays and rising costs associated with manufacture of the complex filters used in the respirators