The UK’s combat air sector – vital for our economy, security and sovereignty

As the UK government carefully considers measures to assist a programme of economic recovery from the impact of Covid-19, BAE Systems and companies across the UK’s combat air sector are continuing to recruit and train staff and develop leading-edge technologies in collaboration with our boldest and brightest minds across industry and universities. This is in support of Tempest – our vision to deliver the most ambitious combat air programme in living memory.

The UK’s combat air sector is a vital element of our economy. It has a turnover in excess of £6 billion a year and accounts for more than 80 per cent of defence exports over the past decade. It is highly productive and sustains more than 46,000 skilled jobs, many of them in engineering and manufacturing roles. It maintains the UK’s ‘freedom of action’, in defence terms, by delivering an independent air defence capability which underpins the vital security of our nation.

From its manufacturing heartland in the north of England, the sector’s footprint reaches all regions of the United Kingdom, driving prosperity across our country and supporting the critical ‘levelling up’ agenda. Combat aircraft programmes including Hawk and Typhoon have delivered impressive economic return for the UK. The initial £800 million the government invested in Hawk led to the most successful trainer aircraft in history, with more than 1,000 platforms sold and the vast majority exported, delivering a return of more than £16 billion to the UK economy. On Eurofighter Typhoon, the UK government has invested £12 billion, but from export sales has seen double that revenue return to the UK economy, with the potential of more to come.

Two years ago, the UK government launched its Combat Air Strategy, which reinforced the importance of the sector to delivering our national security priorities. It also recognised the sector’s critical contribution to developing technological advances, prosperity, productivity, industrial partnerships, international collaboration and our standing in the world.

The strategy set out a bold vision for how the UK will remain at the forefront in this critical sector and continue to deliver economic, industrial capability and skills benefits, as well as outlining the international partnering and continuing export potential of the sector. This vision was embodied by an ambitious goal to create Tempest – a UK-led future combat air system that would be cutting-edge but affordable, and capable of exploiting and defeating rapid technological advancements by adversaries – especially in areas such as sensing, data management, connectivity and autonomy.

As a member of Team Tempest, BAE Systems is already working to realise this vision. Along with our Team Tempest partners – the RAF Rapid Capability Office, Leonardo UK, Rolls-Royce and MBDA UK – we are transforming our business to meet the challenge of making Tempest a reality.

Together, our organisations have continued technological development of the programme throughout the pandemic with the support of more than 1,800 people, including apprentices. These jobs reach into more than 500 constituencies across the UK, and employment across the Tempest project is set to increase to more than 2,500 by next year.

The combat air sector is a beacon to attract the engineers and technicians of the future, a place for young people to build their careers. Between the four core Team Tempest companies, more than 1,000 apprentices and graduates have been recruited in just two years.

Successfully delivering Tempest means doing so at a rapid speed and at significantly lower cost than previous combat aircraft. To achieve this, we are embracing new and transformative approaches. We are choosing our partners in a different way, reaching beyond the traditional defence sector to bring the very best in innovation from across the UK and beyond into the team, wherever that capability is found. The four core partners have already engaged with more than 600 suppliers, SMEs and academic institutions across the UK as part of that mission.

We are also embracing new technologies – designing Tempest in a wholly digital environment. This has led us to draw in R&D expertise from across the UK including from adjacent engineering sectors like automotive. Already our expert aerodynamicists at Warton, in Lancashire, have achieved considerable reductions in wind tunnel testing time and cost through the application of artificial intelligence. In addition, our visionary ‘Intelligent Factory’ will utilise the latest advanced materials and cobotic manufacturing technologies – technologies developed in collaboration with more than 40 major companies, SMEs and universities.

To conclude, the UK’s combat air sector is a proven success story and instrumental not only to important international alliances that help the UK maintain its place in the world, but also critical to our economy, to creating and investing in next generation technologies in the UK. Preserving this sovereign capability is vital to ensure we as a nation retain independent military ‘freedom of action’ and our national security, and at the same time make a positive economic difference to the UK.

Tempest is the perfect example of how defence can continue to play a valuable role in supporting the UK’s economic recovery now, and a commitment would support long-term growth and prosperity, whilst also ensuring the UK retains the capability to be in control of its own security.