10,000 jobs safe after £500m fighter order
THOUSANDS of British jobs have been safeguarded by a £500million order for 20 Typhoon Eurofighters.
The Spanish order comes as the West moves to boost defence spending after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.And it follows a German order for 38 of the aircraft in 2020.
BAE Systems supplies a third of the components including front fuselage, tail and state-of-the-art radar and sensors.
The new order keeps production going in the UK beyond the middle of the decade but final assembly will be by Airbus in Getafe, Spain.
The Lancashire-based BAE also leads on overall design, development, manufacture, upgrade and support on UK Typhoons. More than 5,000 BAE workers are employed on the programme, which supports over 10,000 jobs in the economy as a whole.
BAE boss Andrea Thompson said: “The Spanish government’s commitment to purchasing additional Typhoons reinforces its position as one of the world’s most successful combat military aircraft.”
Fylde MP Mark Menzies said it was “great news for manufacturing” in his Lancashire constituency.
He said: “While final assembly of the aircraft will be in Spain this will ensure component production continues here, supporting jobs, skills and training in Lancashire.”
Unite union’s national officer for aerospace Rhys McCarthy said it was “good news” but bemoaned that a lot of the aircraft was still being manufactured in Spain.
He added: “What we urgently need is for the UK Government to put in its own new order for the latest version of the Typhoon and upgrade existing aircraft.”
He described the RAF’s roundthe-clock flying to protect Nato borders as “unsustainable”.
The Spanish order will replace ageing F18 Hornets and will feature advanced scanning radar.