The final assembly line has been paused due to a lack of domestic and export orders for the Typhoon aircraft. As a result, hundreds of workers are being redeployed to other BAE Systems facilities or RAF bases.
Unite has repeatedly called on the government to secure the sector by commissioning a fourth tranche of the Typhoon. The union argues that such an order is essential to safeguard national capability and sustain the skilled workforce.
“Workers at BAE and across the whole UK defence and manufacturing industry will be looking at the ending of the Typhoon final assembly production at Warton and asking how a government promising to turn defence spending into ‘British growth, British jobs, British skills, British innovation’ could let it happen,” said Unite general secretary Sharon Graham.
“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. But instead of future planning and ensuring skilled workers are ready to produce the next generation of fighter jets [GCAP], they still seem content to sit on their hands while those skills begin to wither and die,” she added.
Ms Graham urged the Ministry of Defence to place an order for the new T5 Typhoons to replace ageing aircraft currently being phased out of RAF service. She warned, “A failure to do this could destroy a generation of aerospace workers and would amount to an act of national self-harm.”
The UK, alongside Italy and Japan, is part of the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), which aims to produce a sixth-generation stealth fighter. While substantial production is planned for the UK, Unite says that the dispersal of workers from Warton could undermine the necessary skills base.
Unite national officer for aerospace Rhys McCarthy noted, “The government has suggested that export orders could fill the gap until GCAP but none have been forthcoming. This is hardly surprising since the government doesn’t have enough faith in the plane to buy it itself yet expects foreign countries to.”
“This is an act of self-sabotage that will wreak havoc with the aerospace workforce across Lancashire and a UK-wide supply chain that supports thousands of jobs,” Mr McCarthy added. “The government needs to place an order for new Typhoons yesterday.”
Source: Unite.
