Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he is taking steps to support (a) BAE Systems and (b) other UK defence manufacturers to restart Typhoon production at the Warton facility in Lancashire.

The Typhoon programme supports more than 20,000 jobs across all regions of the UK, with an estimated 9,000 jobs in North-West England alone. Thanks to the hard-fought industrial workshare agreement, 37% of all nations' Typhoons are made in the UK, with major unit production occurring at BAE Systems sites in Salmesbury and Warton. Consequently, due to new aircraft orders placed by other nations, and the UK's continued investment to upgrade and sustain our Typhoons, the vast majority of these jobs are already secured. Importantly, this will sustain highest skilled manufacturing jobs in the UK for at least the next 10 years irrespective of whether the UK orders more aircraft.

Typhoon will remain a critical Combat Aircraft for the UK until at least 2040. UK investment to upgrade and sustain the UK's Typhoon fleet will support jobs at BAE Systems sites, particularly at Warton and strengthen the UK's prospective Typhoon export campaigns. The Ministry of Defence is actively supporting BAE Systems export campaigns with Turkey and the KSA; the success of either of which would be enough to secure approximately 150-200 jobs on the Warton assembly line.

In addition, to Typhoon, UK investment in the global F-35 programme, which has prospective orders for more than 3,500 aircraft, has created up to 20,000 UK jobs in the manufacturing and supply chains. With some nations expected to operate F-35 until the 2080s, the UK's participation in this programme will sustain these jobs for decades to come. Moreover, our investment in the Global Combat Air Programme is building on the Typhoon and F-35 UK industry skills base. There are already over 3,500 skilled people working on the programme across the UK, with a large proportion employed at BAE Systems at Warton, where the development of the aircraft is being led. Our commitment to the UK's Combat Air aerospace sector through the Typhoon, F-35 and GCAP programmes outlined in the Strategic Defence Review will deliver a world class Combat Air fleet for our armed forces and support over 40,000 long-term, high-quality UK manufacturing jobs.