Aircraft Order from India May Save Hundreds of UK Defense Jobs

An imminent contract order from India for Eurofighter Typhoon jets may save hundreds of jobs at Britain’s BAE Systems.

UK Defense Secretary Philip Hammond has told the House of Commons that he expects confirmation of the order from the Indian government “within the next few weeks.”

UK ministers have been assiduous over the last few weeks in promoting the case for Typhoon in India and in other countries that are currently considering the purchase of new fast jets,” Hammond said.

We understand that there's likely to be an announcement in the next few weeks on the decision that has been made by the Indian government.

BBC reported that the pending deal would save workers at BAE’s plant in Warton in Lancashire.

In late September, the company announced plans to cut a total of about 3,000 jobs -- including 1400 jobs in Lancashire and up to 900 at Brough in East Yorkshire – due to a slowdown in orders for the aircraft and reductions in defense spending.

Meanwhile, the planned job cull at BAE will be debated by MPs on the Backbench Business Committee for a meeting scheduled for Nov. 24.

Mark Hendrick, a Labour MP for Preston (which is located not far from Warton) has urged the government to upgrade support for both BAE and the British defense industry.

Britain will not recover from the global economic crisis without a strong manufacturing base,” he said.

Let's not forget BAE Systems is an incredibly profitable, private, global, defense company -- over £1 billion ($1.3 billion) of profits this year. It's not just about what the government is doing -- it's also about whether BAE itself is doing everything that is necessary.

However, BAE earlier said the job cuts were necessary to ensure its long-term future.

The company employs 100,000 people worldwide, including 40,000 in Britain. Most of the job losses will impact the military aircraft division.