Britain's fighter jet fleet strengthened in £205 million boost for British jobs

• 250 skilled jobs supported by £205 million investment in specialist UK support for the RAF's Typhoon fighter jets, keeping aircraft mission-ready.
• Typhoons play a critical role in protecting the UK and our allies, with recent operations in Eastern Europe and countering Daesh.
• Workers will benefit across the country with jobs at sites including in Lancashire, Lincolnshire and Hampshire.

250 high-skilled jobs have been secured across the country as the MOD today invests over £200 million with British industry to ensure the RAF's Typhoon fighter jet fleet is ready to protect the UK and NATO allies.

Awarded to British company QinetiQ, the work will deliver specialist technical and engineering support to the Typhoon fleet over five years. The £205 million contract shows how the MOD is investing in capabilities across the country, underlining how defence is an engine for growth.

The contract extension will support jobs across the country, including highly-skilled engineering jobs at QinetiQ, MOD and RAF sites in Farnborough, MOD Boscombe Down, Malvern, Lincoln, Bristol, RAF Coningsby, and Warton.

The five-year agreement provides technical, airworthiness and safety expertise and support. This support is essential for maintaining aircraft that travel at twice the speed of sound and operate in demanding conditions. That work includes engineering support help the MOD deliver the new cutting-edge European Common Radar System (ECRS) Mk2, which will allow the aircraft to simultaneously detect, identify and track multiple targets in the air and on the ground.

The Typhoon is the RAF's primary fighter jet, with the aircraft protecting the UK's skies around the clock, as well as deploying on operations worldwide. Continuing to upgrade Typhoons was a commitment in the Strategic Defence Review, forming part of the next-generation of the Royal Air Force.

Typhoons have recently supported NATO's eastern flank through Operation Eastern Sentry and conducted airstrike operations against Daesh terrorists in the Middle East.

Last year the government secured a further 20,000 jobs across the UK through the largest fighter jet deal in a generation, selling 20 world-leading Typhoons to Türkiye in an £8 billion boost to the economy and strengthening NATO's collective security.

Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard MP said:

Our Typhoon fighter fleet is the backbone of Britain's air defence and keeps our nation secure at home and strong abroad, deploying across the world in support of our allies.

Through our continued UK investment in the Typhoon programme and last year's £8 billion Typhoon export deal with Türkiye, we are showing how defence is an engine for growth supporting prosperity across the country.

The UK is committed to the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War - hitting 2.6% of GDP from 2027.

The Typhoon fleet remains central to UK and NATO defence. This contract ensures the aircraft will continue protecting British skies and supporting allies for years to come.

QinetiQ has delivered technical and engineering support to Typhoon since the inception of the programme, work that continues to represent value for money while meeting the RAF's operational requirements.

Steve Wadey, Group Chief Executive Officer at QinetiQ, said:

This contract is a testament to our commitment to the government's defence as an engine for growth agenda. We're backing UK businesses, modernising how we deliver and ensuring the operational readiness of our armed forces.

Working in close collaboration with the Ministry of Defence, we are investing in cutting-edge technology that increases our productivity and elevates our vital expertise, meaning we can get mission critical capability in to the hands of our warfighters at pace and reduced cost.

The contract is an extension of the existing Engineering Delivery Partner Partnership Contract between the MOD and the Aurora consortium, of which QinetiQ is the prime.

Lyndon Hoyle, DE&S Typhoon Team Leader, said:

This contract ensures our Typhoon fleet continues to receive the expert engineering support it needs to remain ready for missions. Working alongside DE&S and RAF colleagues, QinetiQ's team has delivered outstanding technical and safety expertise over many years, and this extension allows us to build on that proven partnership. Their work is essential to keeping these aircraft safe and capable, whether protecting UK airspace or supporting operations worldwide alongside our allies.