BAE Lancashire factories win £135m Eurofighter upgrade contract

The Typhoon is expected to be in operation until the middle of the century

Defence firm BAE Systems has won a £135m contract to upgrade its Eurofighter Typhoon planes supporting 100 jobs at its Lancashire factories.

The work will be done at its military aircraft plants in Samlesbury and Warton.

The contract has been awarded by the Eurofighter consortium as part of a commitment to continue to develop the Typhoon.

It will increase the variety of precision-guided munitions it carries.

The upgrade will also improve its high-speed secure sharing of data, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Current development work on the combat aircraft includes new large touch screen cockpit displays, funded by BAE Systems.

The work will take place at two plants in Lancashire

The Typhoon programme directly employs more than 5,000 at the defence firm, supporting a further 10,000 across the UK economy.

Richard Hamilton, Typhoon programme director of Europe for BAE Systems, said the contract "marks another significant milestone" in the plane's capability.

He added: "The contract will sustain 100 highly-skilled engineering roles in the North West."

The Eurofighter Typhoon is regarded as the most advanced multi-role combat aircraft in operation and has been highly successful in the export market.

It will remain in operation well into the middle of the century.

The contract was awarded to BAE Systems by the Eurofighter consortium which comprises Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo.

Eurofighter Typhoons are in operational service with seven nations - Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, Austria, Oman and Saudi Arabia - with production orders underway for Germany, Kuwait and Qatar.

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