Lift-off for Harrier manufacturing area at BAE Systems' site at Warton
09 Mar 2006
The manufacture of a key component for the Harrier jump-jet aircraft has commenced at BAE Systems site at Warton.
The component, the Reaction Control System (RCS) valve, helps stabilise the aircraft when it flies at low speed, hovers and when it lands or takes off vertically.
Manufacturing of the valves has returned to Warton following the reduction in manufacturing work undertaken at BAE Systems site at Chadderton.
Stuart Lindley, Project Manager at BAE Systems said: ‘The valves play a crucial role in the capability of the Harrier aircraft and therefore need to be manufactured to a very tight tolerance. Because of this, it was decided we should look to bring the work from Chadderton and integrate the process with the final assembly section in Warton to create an end-to-end facility, rather than put it into the supply chain.
‘The manufacturing cell took just 13 weeks to establish and start production. It consists of 10 machines transferred from Chadderton and employs a total of 11 people - five people have transferred from Chadderton, while the other 6 already worked on final assembly of the valves at Warton.
‘We’ve successfully produced our first detailed components and delivered 10 fully repaired valves to the customer, the hard work and dedication of the team is already paying off with the request to increase our output and to produce a number of other components as well!’
About BAE SYSTEMS
BAE Systems is the premier transatlantic defence and aerospace company delivering a full range of products and services for air, land and naval forces, as well as advanced electronics, information technology solutions and customer support services. With more than 100,000 employees worldwide, BAE Systems’ sales exceeded GB 15.4 billion (US$28 billion) in 2005.
For further information, please contact:
Paul Earnshaw, BAE Systems
Tel: +44 (0) 1772 855572 Fax +44 (0) 1772 85624
Email:paul.h.earnshaw@baesystems.com
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