UK’s top defence maker BAE Systems ‘confident’ of receiving orders for Typhoon jets

Unite union had raised concerns over roughly 500 jobs in assembly lines due to a lack of future export orders

British weapons manufacturer BAE Systems has said it is confident of receiving further export orders of the Typhoon fighter jet, a development that would secure the future of several hundred jobs at its factory in Lancashire.

The company is hoping for as many as 150 more orders for the jet, with up to two-thirds of those expected to be assembled in the UK. It comes after Unite, a union representing manufacturing workers, raised concerns over the future of the assembly line at Warton.