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(Photo  of Hawk Aircraft)

Hawk grasps £700 million deal

Prime Minister David Cameron and Business Secretary Dr Vince Cable have welcomed an agreement between BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce and India’s leading aerospace company, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), to supply 57 Hawk trainer aircraft to India.

The deal is worth around £700 million, of which more than £500 million is for BAE Systems and up to £200 million for Rolls-Royce. It will support in excess of 200 jobs in the UK. It was announced at the HAL complex in Bangalore, southern India. Prime Minister David Cameron said: “This is an outstanding example of India- UK defence and industrial partnership, and this agreement will bring significant economic benefits to both our countries.”

Dr Vince Cable, who witnessed the signing of the deal alongside the Prime Minister, said that he looked forward to further co-operation between the UK and India on defence: “I am pleased that the Indian government is considering the Eurofighter Typhoon for its medium multi-role combat aircraft. This bid has the full backing of UK Government.”

The Indian government is considering the Eurofighter Typhoon in a bid that is supported by all four of the Eurofighter partner nations. The programme would be worth at least £5 billion for more than 200 UK companies in the supply chain, and support up to 5,000 jobs in the UK.

According to recently announced figures, the UK is the second-largest supplier of defence equipment in the world. Defence sales generated £7.2 billion of sales in 2009, and some 54,000 jobs in the UK are now linked to defence exports.

£7.2bn WORTH OF DEFENCE SALES IN 2009

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Did you know...

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