§ Mr. Laurence RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much the United Kingdom is contributing to the total cost of the Eurofighter; what percentage this represents of the total; what percentage of the work on the building and maintenance of the Eurofighter is to be carried out in the United Kingdom; and how many jobs will be created in the United Kingdom as a result of the project. [23388]
§ Mr. George RobertsonThe latest estimated procurement cost of the Eurofighter programme is £42.8 billion, £15.9 billion of which is the estimated cost to the UK. This is some 37 per cent. of the total. For the Production phase, UK work share will be approximately 37.5 per cent. This is based on the number of aircraft we are buying in relation to the other nations. Present plans are for each nation to be responsible for the maintenance of their respective aircraft and we therefore expect the majority of maintenance work on the RAF's aircraft to be conducted in the UK. Currently, there are about 6,000 high technology jobs sustained by the development phase of the Eurofighter programme in the UK. This figure is expected to rise to about 14,000 at the peak of production.