§ Lord BachMy right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Defence (Mr Geoffrey Hoon) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
I am delighted to announce that the contracts for the second tranche of Typhoon multi-role combat aircraft have now been signed by the general manager of the NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency, on behalf of the four partner nations, and by the Chief Executives of the project's co-ordinating industrial consortia, Eurofighter GmbH and Eurojet Turbo GmbH. This is excellent news for both the Royal Air Force and for United Kingdom industry and represents the achievement of another major milestone for the Typhoon project.
This order builds upon the success of the introduction into service of Tranche One Typhoon aircraft, which are demonstrating outstanding performance in operation with the RAF. The Tranche Two contracts will provide 90WS the RAF with an additional 89 aircraft at a value in cash terms of around £4.3 billion. The contracts form part of what is thought to be the largest defence order ever placed in Europe, reflecting the successful and continuing co-operation between the four partner nations and European industry.
Typhoon will be an outstandingly capable, state-of-the-art aircraft which will form a cornerstone of the RAF's future capability. The aircraft will have the flexibility to contribute across a wide range of operations delivering air superiority and precision ground attack capabilities.
The order will provide major benefits across the United Kingdom and, at the peak of manufacture, industry expects it to create or sustain some 16,000 jobs with defence manufacturers, many in areas of high-technology, and a significant number in supporting industries across the economy more widely.
Typhoon will be a world-beating aircraft and this major investment will provide the RAF with the capability to respond to the challenges and threats we face now and in the future.