Lockheed Martin has won the biggest-ever defence contract to supply Joint Strike Fighters to the US Air Force.
The company was in competition with Boeing for the $200 billion contract.
Rolls Royce, BAE, Cobham and Smiths will all benefit from the £140 billion project.
The contract is for 3,000 supersonic jets with radar-evading capabilities to replace the aging fighter fleets of the Air Force, Navy and Marines, albeit with modifications to fit the needs of each branch.
The US defence department gave Boeing and Lockheed $660 million each in 1996 for research and development of prototypes that could take off quickly, land vertically and on carrier decks and throw off radar.
Lockheed had said that if it won it would add as many as 9,000 jobs at its Lockheed Martin Aeronautics division in Fort Worth, Texas, which currently employs 11,000.
Boeing had predicted it would have added 3,000 new jobs for its Seattle facility and another 3,000 engineering jobs and 2,000 production jobs at its St Louis plant.
Analysts said Boeing may be in a better position to weather the loss.
It is developing an unmanned combat aircraft that could be highly lucrative and, unlike Lockheed, it has a commercial airline business.
PA