BAE Systems wins £446m Typhoon maintenance contract

Five-year deal will safeguard up to 600 jobs at Warton and Samlesbury

Defence giant BAE Systems has won a five-year, £446 million contract to support the fleet of Typhoon jets.

The contract will help to safeguard 600 engineering, supply chain and project management jobs at BAE Systems' Warton and Samlesbury sites in Lancashire.

Martin Taylor, BAE Systems' combat air support director, said that the contract is “great news for BAE Systems as a whole”. It will support 306 jets used by the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain.

Ian Waddell, national officer of the Unite union, welcomed the announcement: “This news will bring some relief to the highly skilled workers at BAE's Warton and Samlesbury sites. They have been under huge pressure after the company announced 3,000 redundancies in military aircraft production last year,” he said.

“It demonstrates that governments can provide the clarity of funding which allows companies like BAE Systems to plan effectively and therefore safeguard jobs.

“Engineers are in desperately short supply and this announcement means these critical staff are assured a secure future with BAE Systems, which is also good news for the UK economy.”

In March BAE workers at the two Lancashire factories voted to take a pay cut, for the next two years, to help save 150 jobs.

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