UK 'Tempest' programme will support 20,000 jobs a year through 2050

In simple material terms, it was estimated that the Tempest project would support 20,000 jobs annually between 2026 and 2050 and contribute £25.3bn to the UK economy in the first 30 years alone.

More significantly, it would preserve the country's sovereignty in a critical area of engineering, the combat air industrial sector with all of its associated benefits, the study found.

"Tempest is an exciting and ambitious multi-decade programme that will help to preserve our national security whilst at the same time driving significant economic benefits for the UK," said Michael Christie, the Director of BAE Systems's Combat Air Acquisition Programme.

Business lobby group ADS chief, Paul Everitt, was of the same opinion, but called attention to the fact that the programme would help preserve high-value design and manufacturing skills in the UK "for decades to come, sustain thousands of high paying jobs and give apprentices the opportunity to build their career in an iconic programme with massive export potential."

Team Tempest, as the consortia of firms tasked with delivering the aircraft was known, was made up of BAE Systems, Leonardo UK, MBDA, Rolls-Royce, alongside hundreds of high-tech firms, smaller companies and academia from across the country.

In July alone, Bombardier Belfast, Collins Aerospace in the UK, GE Aviation UK, GKN Aerospace, Martin-Baker, QinetiQ, and Thales UK were added to the list of firms that might potentially contribute to different aspects of the new airplane.