(MOD) New MoD fighter support contract to employ 500

The five-year £450M contract has been placed with BAE Systems for initial delivery and further development of the Typhoon Availability Service (TAS). This will be centred at RAF Coningsby, the main operating base for the Typhoon fleet, over the next few years, but also includes the BAE Systems sites at Warton and Samlesbury.

Minister for Defence Equipment & Support, Quentin Davies said:

"This is excellent news for both the MoD and UK industry with the creation of some 150 new jobs, mostly at RAF Coningsby, over the five-year term of this initial contract. The Typhoon programme directly employs some 16,000 aerospace and engineering staff in some of the UK's leading companies, and many more throughout the supply chain - this is important militarily and industrially to the UK.

"This contract will ensure the Typhoon fleet is able to meet its operational commitments and will continue to deliver as a world-class capability as the cornerstone of the UK's air defence capabilities. We are committed to building strong partnering arrangements with UK industry, in this case to get more efficient support for our front-line Typhoon fighter force."

The Typhoon Integrated Project Team Leader, Air Commodore Chris Bushell, said:

"Today's announcement is intended to maximise aircraft availability by using the most cost-effective solution. Typhoon has now been operational in the air defence role for well over a year and a multi-role capability was integrated and declared combat ready by the RAF in July 2008. The signature of the TAS contract builds on this success."