Engineering news
The cuts at its UK sites, including 750 roles at the Eurofighter-Typhoon manufacturing Warton and Samlesbury factories in Lancashire, will happen over the next three years.
The military air sector will bear the brunt of the cuts, with 1,400 people set to lose their jobs as the company plans to reduce the final assembly of Typhoon jets and production rates of the Hawk aircraft.
About 375 roles will be cut in the maritime services sector “in response to evolving customer requirements and an ongoing focus on efficiency improvements.”
In London, Guildford and other applied intelligence sites, responsible for cyber-security, 150 jobs will be axed.
Chief executive Charles Woodburn claimed the cuts will create “a more streamlined, de-layered organisation, with a sharper competitive edge and a renewed focus on technology.”
The changes “are necessary and the right thing to do for our company, but unfortunately include proposed redundancies at a number of operations,” he added. “I recognise this will be difficult news for some of our employees and we are committed to do everything we can to support those affected.”
Britain’s largest union, Unite, vowed to “fight for every job”. “These are world class workers with years of training and expertise on which an additional four jobs rely upon in the supply chain,” said assistant general secretary Steve Turner.
The government “must take back control of our nation’s defence and with it, play its part in supporting UK defence manufacturing jobs… by investing in Britain and committing that long term projects, such as the next generation jet fighter, future support vessels and Type 31e frigate are built here in the UK,” he added.