We hoped for a march of the makers, but even BAE is failing to produce the goods

theguardian ^ | 15 November 2015

[sukhoi-30mki]

How ironic that just as Indian prime minister Narendra Modi was in Britain last week talking up the trading links between the two countries, defence group BAE Systems was announcing 371 UK job losses that are due in no small part to decisions made by India in 2012.

If India had agreed back then to buy 126 BAE-made Eurofighter Typhoon jets, British manufacturing might not be under the pressure that it feels today. That deal would have been worth around £7bn, with the order securing the jobs of thousands of workers at BAE plants across the UK. Instead, India chose to order the same number of Rafale aircraft from French manufacturer Dassault.

With limited overseas demand for the Typhoon, BAE has had to slow down production of the fighter jet and cut jobs. When production began in the 1990s, it was hoped that overseas orders would pour in to underpin the project. But, a controversial order from Saudi Arabia apart, tie-ups with India, the UAE and other countries have failed to materialise.

And BAE is not the only aerospace manufacturer in Britain feeling the pinch. Engine maker Rolls-Royce issued a profits warning last Thursday that wiped a fifth off the value of its shares. The problems facing Britain’s aerospace industry can be summed up in two aircraft: the Typhoon and the Airbus A380 superjumbo.

Rolls-Royce makes engines for both aircraft. The company placed a bet on large, wide-bodied aircraft such as the A380 and on the next generation of narrow-bodied, or short-haul, planes that will come after the Airbus A320neo and the Boeing 737 Max.

That bet went wrong, however, as long-haul airlines focused instead on smaller, single-aisle planes that are becoming increasingly cheap to

[sukhoi-30mki]

Not ready for take-off. Illustration: David Simonds for the Observer

[Mollypitcher1]

I despise Airbus! I fly Boeing and love the Dreamliner.