The government has been issued with a national security warning as the Eurofighter Typhoon production has stopped.
Union chiefs have warned the BAE Systems Warton factory in Lancashire is winding down and the last fighter jet for Qatar is nearing completion.
A union official told the Financial Times, “There is one jet in the hangar but it is basically waiting for a few parts and to be painted…As far as major assembly goes, it’s finished, it isn’t sustaining any workers.”
Sharon Graham, general secretary at the Unite union said workers at BAE Systems in the UK “will be asking how a government promising to turn defence spending into ‘British growth, British jobs, British skills, British innovation’ could let it happen.
Graham added, “I have repeatedly told government ministers how much is at risk in terms of jobs, skills, and national security if we stop assembling our own fighter planes.
Graham is warning there could be a major loss of skills within the defence sector particularly in the aerospace industry for future defence projects.
This comes as previous governments have not place any orders for Typhoon fighter jets since 2009 and has recently announced to buy 27 US F-35 stealth jets and 12 F-35As that are cheaper, GB News reported.
Conservative MP Andrew Snowden warned that if the government “fails to confirm this order soon, we face the very real prospect of losing… a vital national capability, the ability to design, assemble and deliver world-class military aircraft independently.”
