BAE chief fears 10,000 air jobs will go

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Robert Fox, Defence Correspondent, Evening Standard,
11 March 2005

THE British aircraft and avionics industry will face a dramatic decline and the loss of thousands of jobs once the Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft project is finished, according to BAE Systems chief executive Mike Turner.

In an interview with the London Evening Standard, Turner said he expects up to 10,000 specialist jobs in the air systems industry to be lost in the next few years.

He blamed the Government's decision to order the next RAF combat aircraft, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, from America and added that industry expertise will be lost to Britain for ever.

'The Government is not prepared to face up to this. It means we will go down from 15,000 to about 5,000 in this sector,' he said. Turner would like the Ministry of Defence to invest in facilities for the final assembly of the Joint Strike Fighter in Britain.

http://www.thisislondon.com/news/business/articles/timid398786?source=

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1. Why BAE has America in its sights

Robert Fox, Defence Correspondent, Evening Standard,
11 March 2005

DEFENCE and aerospace giant BAE Systems this week signalled the beginning of the great ground offensive in its new grand strategy by buying United Defence Industries of the US for £2.2bn. The five-year plan, agreed by the high command of the main board last November, will take the company's main interest inexorably westward, out of Europe and into America.

For Mike Turner, the ebullient, blunt talking chief executive, the deal for UDI - making of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle - makes BAE the leading transatlantic defence and aerospace company. The combined company becomes a world player in the development of ground combat systems, rivalled only by Abrams tank builder General Dynamics. In Europe, it puts BAE's Alvis-Vickers and Swedish division Hagglund together with UDI subsidiary Bofors.

The new BAE team is set fair to win contracts for the most ambitious programmes of the US and British armies. But here is the difference: the Future Combat Systems for the US forces is costed at about $100nbn (£52bn) over five years. The Future Rapid Effects System for the UK, already delayed, is worth £6bn or less.

While the US offers prospects for new markets, according to Turner, the European and UK end of the business will see a steady decline with an inevitable loss of jobs. After the Typhoon Eurofighter, Britain will lose the ability to build fast combat jets. This will mean a decline of specialists in the aircraft sector from 15,000 to 5,000.

http://www.thisislondon.com/news/business/articles/timid398818?source=

[KlatooBNikto]

2. Some time ago I read that BAe Systems formed a joint venture with

India's Bharat Dynamics to manufacture and assemble components for ground combat vehicle and aircraft.That means outsourcing has already hit the Defense industry.