BAE Systems jobs fears as India looks set to reject Eurofighter Typhoon
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BAE Systems jobs fears as India looks set to reject Eurofighter Typhoon | Business | guardian.co.uk
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Union leaders have voiced fears about the job implications of moves by the Indian government to give preferred bidder status to a French firm for a lucrative order for fighte planes.
BAE Systems had been hoping to partly assemble 126 Eurofighter Typhoon jets at Warton and Samlesbury in Lancashire for the Indian air force.
India's government has signalled that French firm
Dassault put in a lower bid with its Rafale jets,
although no formal statement has been made.
Sources at BAE said it was "far from a done deal"
and that no contract has been awarded to
Dassault.
A company spokesman said: "BAE Systems
notes that Eurofighter Typhoon has not been
assessed as the lowest-priced compliant bidder
by the Indian ministry of defence at this stage of
the tendering process for supply of its new
medium multi-role combat aircraft.
"Our partner, Cassidian, submitted an attractive
and competitive proposal to supply Eurofighter
Typhoon, the world's most modern medium
multi-role combat aircraft available today.
"We believe Eurofighter Typhoon offers the best
military, industrial and economic solution for
India.
"We will continue to support the Indian customer
and its evaluation process and work with our
European partner companies and their respective
governments to seek to understand the basis of
the announcement."
Unite warned the selection of a French fighter
aircraft for the multibillion-pound contract could
have serious implications for BAE Systems and
the UK aerospace industry.
The union's national officer, Ian Waddell, said:
"We are seeking confirmation from BAE Systems
that Rafale has been selected as their preferred
fighter by India.
"The Typhoon is a superb aircraft which supports
thousands of highly skilled jobs in the UK, both at
BAE Systems and in the supply chain.
"We are concerned about the serious implications
this decision may have and want urgent talks
with the company about future plans for the
workforce.
"There are other export orders to be won and it is
critical that the company maintains its
commitment to Typhoon despite this setback."
The CSEU, an umbrella body for manufacturing
unions, is meeting the MoD's procurement
minister, Peter Luff, next week and the unions will
raise the issue as a priority.
Unite said it will continue to concentrate its efforts
to deal with the 3,000 potential redundancies at
BAE Systems at Brough, Samlesbury and
Warton, which were announced late last year.