BAE Systems wins £450million contract to construct superior radar for RAF fighter jets

Defence chiefs have awarded a near half billion-pound contract to BAE Systems to build new advanced radar systems for the RAF’s Typhoon aircraft.

The £453.5million deal is for BAE’s state-of-the-art ECRS Mk2 radar, which will deliver ‘enhanced electronic warfare capability, allowing the aircraft to detect, identify and track multiple targets in the air and on the ground’.

The contract for 38 radar systems, to be delivered by the end of the decade, supports 1,300 jobs. This includes workers at BAE’s Warton site in Lancashire, 400 staff at partner company Leonardo’s sites in Edinburgh and Luton, and workers at Coventry-based Parker Meggitt.

The investment was announced by Defence Secretary John Healey, who visited Leonardo’s site in Edinburgh on Thursday.

The RAF Typhoon display team at the Southport Air Show.

It comes despite revelations of a £28billion black hole in the Ministry of Defence’s budget which senior officers fear could lead to cuts – despite a manifesto pledge by the government to increase defence spending from 2.3 per cent to 2.5 per cent of GDP by next year and meet a more expensive NATO funding commitment by 2035.

Earlier this week, the Government also announced a £205million contract for the long-term provision of specialist Typhoon engineering support by QinetiQ.

Mr Healey said: ‘As the threats we face increase, and as Russian drones continue to strike Ukraine and violate NATO airspace, this cutting-edge radar capability will keep Britain secure at home and strong abroad for many years to come.’

He said this week’s combined investment shows defence is an ‘engine for growth’ that can create skilled jobs and strengthen national security.

Healey added: ‘Our Government has backed (the UK defence industry’s) high-skilled work with more than £650million of investment this week alone, securing British jobs and making defence an engine for growth.’

Richard Hamilton, BAE’s air sector managing director for Europe and International, said: ‘Continued investment in Typhoon capability is crucial and ensures we’re able to maximise the UK’s investment in the aircraft and accelerate combat air technologies critical for defence capabilities.’

The radar deal was partially announced in June, when an initial £204.6million of the funding was released.

It follows a contract signed with Turkey in October for 20 Typhoon jets worth £5.4billion

BAE describes the Typhoon programme – a collaboration between Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain – as ‘one of the UK’s most successful defence export programmes’, contributing £1.4billion in exports annually.

The full Typhoon programme supports more than 20,000 jobs across 330 UK companies.

But earlier this month, Britain’s Chief of the Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, is said to have warned Sir Keir Starmer about a £28billion military funding black hole.

The shortfall raises the prospect of swingeing budget cuts, at the same time as the UK faces the threat of direct conflict with Russia in Ukraine.

As well as Labour’s manifesto commitments to increase defence cash, Britain was part of an agreement between NATO allies last summer under which member states will have to double defence spending from 2.4 per cent of GDP to 5 per cent by 2035, with 3.5 per cent allocated to ‘core’ defence spending such as weapons and 1.5 per cent spent on ‘national security’ measures.

In November, the Office for Budget Responsibility estimated that meeting the cost of the NATO agreement for ‘core’ spending alone would need an additional £32billion a year at today’s prices – equivalent in scale to the tax raids announced at each of Rachel Reeves’ two budgets.