Workers at a British fighter jet factory have warned that production has “essentially stopped”, amid fears that the Royal Air Force (RAF) will buy US-made planes in the future. United.

The BAE Systems factory in Warton, near Preston, until recently assembled Eurofighter Typhoon planes for Qatar following a £6 billion order placed by the country seven years ago.

But as this work is nearing completion and no similar orders are in progress, “essentially, production of British-built Typhoon aircraft has stopped”, union leaders warned.

The factory, part of the Eurofighter consortium, still makes front fuselages for aircraft ordered by Germany, Spain and other countries, but these are sent overseas for final assembly of the aircraft. planes in Europe.

At the same time, workers have been rattled by reports that British officials are currently leaning toward buying more F-35 stealth jets from U.S. giant Lockheed Martin instead of ordering more Typhoons.

In a letter to MPs on the defense select committee, Unite executive board member Steve McGuinness said: “As things stand, there are currently no Typhoons in final assembly. on the Warton site and no orders for future aircraft.

“Essentially, production of British-built Typhoon aircraft has stopped.

“We are increasingly concerned by reports that Typhoons being withdrawn from active RAF service are to be replaced by American-built F-35A aircraft.

“This would be a major blow to the UK aviation industry and could potentially end the design, manufacture and assembly of fast jet aircraft in this country, seriously damaging our sovereign capability.”