OFFICIALS at BAE Systems have dismissed fears that a major order for warplanes will be scrapped.

The Lancashire-designed Eurofighter Typhoon is the source of thousands of jobs at BAE Systems' plants at Samlesbury and Warton.

But now the Typhoon, which has been dogged by delays since its inception in 1983, is at the centre of rumours that the government will shelve plans to order a third tranche of its original order.

There are fears that the number of aircraft the RAF will receive, originally set at 232, will be reduced by a third to 143.

But a spokesman for BAE Systems, which employs around 4,000 people at Samlesbury, said they have received repeated assurances from the top level of government that the order will be fulfilled.

A spokesman for BAE Systems said: "Nothing has changed. The UK government has repeatedly confirmed its commitment to the Typhoon programme and the current level of 232 aircraft required is unchanged.

"This commitment has come from the Prime Minister himself on several occasions and Geoff Hoon confirmed this in Parliament on September 9.

"We really have nothing more to add at the moment."

The first batch of 55 aircraft are due to be delivered to the RAF in the next few months, six years late.

Currently all Eurofighters are grounded because of faults in the braking system.

A commitment for the second batch of 89 has been given by the government but discussions to finalise the third batch of 88 aircraft will not take place until 2007.

BAE says the Typhoon is the world's most advanced swing-role fighter in production, with the most advanced weapons systems available.

In Europe's largest-ever collaborative military programme, a total of 620 planes have been ordered by the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain.

Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram denied that the government was intending to cut the order for Eurofighters to save cash.

He said delays in ordering the second batch of Typhoon planes -- 236, of which 89 are for the RAF -- had been caused by technological "teething problems".

He said while the first aircraft for the first batch were due to be delivered last month, they would now start flying shortly and be accepted into service days or weeks later. He pledged: "Typhoon is in full scale production. It is here to stay."

He said that when the RAF was satisfied that initial problems had been solved, the second batch of planes would be ordered with the third batch expected to be confirmed shortly afterwards.

He said Typhoon was a "battle-winning capability for the RAF" and provided vital high-tech capability for the four countries involved.