Gavin Williamson - £5bn Typhoon deal will safeguard UK jobs

BAE Systems, which employs hundreds of people in the West Midlands, will build 24 jets and provide a support and training package, with deliveries expected to start in 2022.

The deal was announced in Doha by Defence Secretary Mr Williamson and his Qatari counterpart, Khalid bin Mohammed al Attiyah.

Mr Williamson said it was a 'massive vote of confidence, supporting thousands of British jobs and injecting billions into our economy'.

The contract was the biggest export agreement for the Typhoon in a decade, he added, and would 'boost the Qatari military's mission to tackle the challenges we both share in the Middle East'.

The South Staffordshire MP hailed the close ties between Qatar and the UK, describing the nations as 'sharing a close and longstanding defence relationship'.

He added: “The two countries share mutual interests of countering violent extremism, and ensuring stability in the region, and this purchase will deepen those ties by helping to prevent terrorism from spreading and protecting our prosperity and security at home.”

The RAF has been on joint exercises with Qatar’s air force recently, the Defence Secretary added.

He said the practice was likely to continue as the defence deal develops, with Qatari pilots and ground crew likely to train in the UK.

BAE chief executive Charles Woodburn said: "This agreement is a strong endorsement of Typhoon's leading capabilities and underlines BAE Systems' long track record of working in successful partnership with our customers."

The Typhoon entered service with the RAF in 2007 to replace the ageing Tornado fleet.

BAE has a base in Telford, and employs around 5,000 people in the UK to build the fighter jets, mainly at Warton in Lancashire.

But although the Qatar order secures the production of the Typhoon at BAE into the next decade, it will not stop the 1,900 job cuts announced in October from going ahead.

The firm has suffered amid declining military spending among major NATO members, but remains a key contractor on the world's most expensive defence programme, the US-led F-35 Joint Strike Fighter project.

The deal – the first the company has sealed for jets in the last two years – came as global weapons sales broke a five-year downturn, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s (Sipri) annual survey.

Sipri said that sales by the 100 biggest defence companies in 2016 rose 1.9 per cent to $374.8bn (£280bn).

The UK's deal with Qatar also includes an agreement with MBDA for Brimstone and Meteor missiles and Raytheon's Paveway IV laser-guided bomb.

Qatar signed a letter of intent in September to buy the 24 jets from BAE.

It is the ninth country to buy the Typhoon, with other customers including Saudi Arabia. Talks about a second batch of sales to the kingdom are ongoing.

In June countries including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the UAE severed diplomatic relations with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism.

Defence deals with Saudi Arabia were in the headlines in the summer when the Campaign Against Arms Trade argued that sales licences should be revoked.

The campaigners lost a high a profile judicial review when it was ruled the weapons licences did not constitute a risk of breaking international law.

However, the outcry it created put Saudi Arabia’s use of weapons in Yemen in the spotlight.

In October, then Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said he was 'personally involved' in sales negotiations with Riyadh, but that a deal was being hampered by criticism of Saudi Arabia by MPs.

He said aircraft such as the Typhoon were the 'shop window' for for Britain’s aerospace industry and export sales were vital to supporting the struggling sector.