About 170 jobs will be created in Northern Ireland after two companies with operations in the region were part of a consortium contracted to develop a new spy plane system for the British Ministry of Defence (MoD).
Around 130 jobs will be created at Short Brothers Aerospace and 40 at a new software centre by Raytheon Software.
Both are part of the RaytheonBombardier Aerospace consortium which was yesterday awarded a £800 million sterling (€1.23 billion) contract for the development of Astor, advance standoff radar.
Mr Ken Brundle, vice-president and general manager of Bombardier Aerospace-Shorts, said it was excellent news for the company and its Global Express aircraft. "In addition to the 700 jobs currently on the Global Express programme at Shorts, Astor will create a further 130 engineering and production jobs in Northern Ireland."
The planned Raytheon systems software development centre in Derry, which was dependent on the consortium securing the Astor deal, will now proceed with plans to employ 40 software engineers.
Managing director Mr Peter McKee said that about 2,500 jobs would be created or sustained in the UK under the deal, with a further 4,000 jobs created or sustained as a result of potential export opportunities.
The Northern Ireland First Minister, Mr David Trimble, said this contract would have a considerable effect on the aerospace sector.
" The investment in Northern Ireland by a company of Raytheon's global reputation is a major boost to the local economy and consolidates our position as a software centre of excellence."
The MoD's decision involved the selection of five Bombardier Global Express aircraft as the airborne platforms for Raytheon's radars and communication systems. Modifications to Global Express required for Astor will be designed and manufactured by Bombardier Aerospace in Belfast.
The Northern Ireland Economy Minister, Mr Adam Ingram, said that extensive lobbying by the Secretary of State, Dr Mo Mowlam and himself, together with local politicians including Mr Trimble, Mr Seamus Mallon and Mr John Hume had influenced a decision which would bring further opportunities.
The US-led Raytheon consortium beat off stiff competition from Anglo-American Consortiums led by Lockheed Martin and Northrup Grumman which was linked to British Aerospace. Shorts' parent Bombardier is the world's third largest civil aircraft manufacturer with operations in three countries providing technical services, aircraft maintenance and pilot training to business, regional airline and military customers.
The MoD's requirement was for a dual mode radar and communication systems mounted on an ultra long range business jet to provide high altitude, long range surveillance.
The system will operate at long distances from a hostile zone at high altitude, producing a picture of the land and any objects on it, including moving vehicles, to provide accurate information for political or military assessments.
