BAE Systems expect the number of jobs in East Lancashire to soar as a result of the company’s next generation Combat Air programme and demonstrator.
BAE Systems has launched the demonstrator for its UK-led international future combat air system Tempest, which will provide a "next level of air power" for the RAF.
The aerospace giants have their hubs based in Warton and Samlesbury where the demonstrator Tempest aircraft will be built, supposedly, by 2025.
Ian Muldowney, chief operating officer and engineering director at BAE Systems, believes the Tempest demonstrator programme will fuel East Lancashire’s economy through their presence in the North West.
At the Farnborough International Air Show on Wednesday, July 20, he said: “It’s going to be a supersonic platform that is designed, developed, integrated in the North West of England.
"The supply chain alone has about three to five hundred supplied through the UK, and a lot of them will be in the North West of them in England.”
The Tempest programme is expected to increase economic prosperity through their new products, services and jobs in all regions of the UK with around 70 per cent of the value shared across the North West, South West and East of England.
“If you think about Typhoon, that generates about 20,000 jobs annually.”
Mr Muldowney added that, “yes, some of those are in the South West” but through partner companies like Rolls Royce, “a high proportion is in the North West of England.”
In addition to engineering and manufacturing, Muldowney says the Tempest programme will also introduce indirect jobs like marketing and communications roles, which are “massive to the region’s economy especially in the East Lancashire area.”
BAE employs approximately 10,000 people across the Warton and Samlesbury sites through apprenticeships.
The company also partners with the University of Central Lancashire to strengthen the next generation of innovators through academia.
As well as local BAE Systems hubs, global collaborations, like the recent Tempest partnership announcement with Japan and Italy, are vital because of the country’s and company’s history.
Mr Muldowney added: “It’s been a lifeblood of the (defence) sector since the second world war really.
“It’s critical and I think the North West would be really proud of that, Lancashire in particular.
“We are the heartbeat of the Sovereign Combat Air Capability in the United Kingdom, and our partners through NATO or the Middle East.”
The Tempest programme, which ambitiously aims to deliver the new air combat demonstrator in the next five years, is encouraging the younger generation across East Lancashire to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and maths.
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