Up to 150 more Eurofighter Typhoon jets are set to be ordered before the end of the decade in a boost for defence manufacturer BAE Systems, the company revealed yesterday.
The firm is ‘confident’ the Government will succeed in brokering orders with Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia for two-thirds of the aircraft, which will be assembled in the UK.
A further 30 planes are due to be ordered by the Polish air force and assembled by Italian defence manufacturer Leonardo, and the remaining jets purchased by Germany and Italy.
But 37 per cent of the component parts for all those planes would be made in Britain too, under the Eurofighter’s partnership agreement.
The extra orders would come on top of 112 Typhoons already in production in Germany and Italy from existing deals.
Richard Hamilton, managing director for BAE’s Europe and International air sector, said he was ‘highly confident’ of the likelihood of the additional orders materialising.
In demand: BAE is ‘confident’ the Government will succeed in brokering orders for Typhoons with Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia for two-thirds of the aircraft
It comes after concern from the Unite union – representing staff at BAE’s Warton Aerodrome and Samlesbury sites in Lancashire – that orders under the Eurofighter project could dry up and threaten jobs.
Earlier this month, Unite revealed assembly lines for the aircraft at Warton had ground to a halt due to a lack of new orders, leading to ‘hundreds of workers’ being transferred to other BAE factories or to RAF bases.
BAE shares yesterday slipped 1.5 per cent, or 28p, to 1882.5p.
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