Defence giant BAE to axe 2,000 UK jobs

BAE Systems (LSE: BA.L - news) , Britain's biggest defence contractor, is to axe 2,000 jobs in a bitter blow for the country's manufacturing industry.

The FTSE 100 company said the redundancies - across military, maritime and intelligence services - would be part of moves to streamline the business with a renewed focus on technology.

Unions reacted with anger - describing the company as "short-sighted" and accusing the Government of ceding control of UK defence manufacturing to factories overseas.

As Sky News exclusively reported on Monday , BAE confirmed the biggest cutbacks would fall in its military air business amid sluggish orders for its Eurofighter Typhoon and Hawk aircraft - forcing production to be slowed down.

It said 1,400 jobs would go across five sites over the next three years. The Warton and Samlesbury plants in Lancashire - where the Typhoon is assembled - will bear the brunt of the losses, alongside its Brough factory in east Yorkshire.

Operations in Portsmouth will be worst affected by plans to cut 375 staff from maritime servicing and support.

The rest of the job losses, approximately 150 people, will affect cyber intelligence roles in London, Guildford and overseas.

Nigel Whitehead, the company's group managing director of programmes and support, told Sky (Frankfurt: 893517 - news) 's Ian King Live that announcing the job cuts was a "painful and horrible moment".

He added: "We simply have to match the workforce to the flow of work to our business.

"We recognise that the Tornado aircraft is going to go out of service in 2019 and is ramping down.

"The best way of maximising the sales of the Typhoon, our leading fighter aircraft in the export market, is to actually slow down the rate of production so we have a constant rate of production... and a good basis for pricing into the export market for as long as we possibly can."

When asked if workers would be given the chance to be redeployed, he said: "As a company, where we've gone through resizing and reshaping exercises within our business, we've always made every effort to mitigate job losses by retraining, redeploying... across our broad and diverse business across the UK."

The news was announced just three months after the company employed new chief executive Charles Woodburn and it announced a potential deal with Qatar for 24 Typhoons and six Hawks.

Mr Woodburn said: "These actions will further strengthen our company as we deliver our strategy in a changing environment."

Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner said the job cuts "would devastate communities across the UK and the hope of a decent future they give to future generations".

He added: "The UK Government must take back control of our nation's defence and with it, play its part in supporting UK defence manufacturing jobs."

BAE employee Mick Darlington told Sky News the job cuts were "not a great surprise".

The electrician, who is recently married and has a young daughter, said: "This redundancy is the one we're most scared of because this is about losing a sovereign capability in this country for manufacturing fighter aircraft.

"If we lose these jobs, what are they going to be replaced with?"

Labour echoed that sentiment and called on ministers to bring forward spending on defence projects - such as replacing the ageing Red Arrows Hawk aircraft.

A Government spokesman said: "BAE Systems have taken this decision as a result of internal restructuring. It is clearly a concerning time for their workers and the Government stands ready to support those affected.

"Our MoD spent £3.7bn with BAE last year, and we also continually bang the drum for our world-leading defence industry right across the globe, supporting companies like BAE in securing contracts for UK-made equipment."