36 MANUFACTURING
TYPHOON STORMS IT
The spotlight has been on Team Tempest and what the UK’s future combat air programme will deliver in terms of jobs and opportunities for Lancashire’s military aerospace sector.
However, two recent contract announcements have underlined just how important the production of its predecessor remains to the county and defence giant BAE Systems.
The construction of the first Eurofighter Typhoon prototypes began in 1989 and some three decades later the multi-role combat aircraft continues to be backbone of the partner nations’ air forces. It has also generated major export orders throughout that time.
The Typhoon continues to deliver valuable orders and work for BAE Systems at its Lancashire operations, the latest providing a major boost for the county’s aerospace sector as it reels from the impact of Covid-19 on the commercial aviation side.
In November, BAE Systems was awarded a £1.3bn order to support the production of 38 Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft for the German Air Force. They will have a service life that will stretch beyond 2060.
It followed an announcement two months earlier that BAE Systems and Leonardo had been given a £317m contract to develop next generation radar for the RAF’s Typhoon. That work will sustain the jobs of 120 engineers in Lancashire.
Richard Hamilton, project director Europe for BAE Systems Air, describes the German order as “highly significant” and says it will support high- value jobs in the county.
It will also maintain the continuity of Typhoon production in Lancashire through to the mid- 2020s. BAE Systems has operations at Warton and Samlesbury and 3,000 workers at the two plants work on the programme.
Richard says: “It is a huge boost to the economy. It is not only the fact that for the next five years we’ve got manufacturing work, these aircraft will operate for the next 40 years and we will continue to provide the service support.”
Richard Hamilton
The aircraft will be equipped with the latest technology, including an advanced electronically-scanning radar.
Richard says that as well as ensuring skills remain in Lancashire, the Typhoon programme is also helping to drive innovation as the company develops the technology needed to deliver the next generation of combat air capabilities.
In one example, its engineers are now producing 3D printed components for Typhoon, including an ‘Environmental Cooling System’ which will be used on next generation radar.
Richard adds: “We are starting to demonstrate some of the new manufacturing technologies
The aircraft is in operational service with seven nations – Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, Austria, Oman and Saudi Arabia – with production underway for Kuwait and Qatar. New export opportunities are also being sought.
There is plenty of life in the Typhoon yet as it will also continue to play a major role in the RAF’s operations for at least the next 20 years.
Lancashire will deliver more than a third of the components for each of the new Typhoons including the aircraft’s front fuselage and tail. Final assembly will be undertaken by Airbus in Manching, Germany.
that we would aim to implement on Tempest and we are beginning to bring them into the way we are manufacturing Typhoon today.”
As well as sustaining hundreds of jobs, the development of next generation radar for the Typhoon will also benefit Tempest and the UK’s future combat air system.
The “game-changer” will equip RAF pilots with the ability to locate, identify and suppress enemy air defences using high-powered jamming.
They will be able to engage targets while beyond the reach of threats - even when they’re looking in another direction - and operate inside the range of opposing air defences, remaining fully protected throughout.
It will also enable the Typhoons to link up with future data-driven weapons to combat rapidly evolving air defences.
Andrea Thompson, BAE Systems’ air sector managing director, Europe and International, also highlights the fact the work will sustain “the key skills needed to keep the UK at the forefront of the global combat air sector.”
The announcement of the Typhoon contracts during the pandemic underlines the differing fortunes of the civil and defence air sectors as a result of Covid-19 and its impact on the global economy.
Sharon McDonald, chief executive of the North West Aerospace Alliance (NWAA), says that while civil aerospace has struggled badly with Covid-19 it has been a different story for military work.
She adds: “The demand in the defence sector has continued and, in some cases, increased.”
However, there has been some impact from the pandemic. Sharon says: “The defence supply chain has been exposed to some disruption in the international supply chain from suppliers who have been impacted by the financial effects from the commercial sector downturn and, in some cases, shutdowns due to Covid- related fatalities.”
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