WORKERS at BAE Systems at Samlesbury have started work on the $35 billion Joint Strike Fighter - the world's biggest ever defence contract.

A team of 400 engineers is manufacturing the first components for the next generation of stealth fighter planes at a custom-built £11 million complex at Samlesbury.

The announcement is welcome news for BAE at a time when uncertainty surrounds the Eurofighter Typhoon programme with doubts remaining over the Government's commitment to taking all the 236 planes on order.

There was further good news for the company with the announcement from the Indian Government that it will buy 66 Hawk fighter trainers for $1.62 billion.

Although the planes are built at Brough in North Yorkshire, key components are manufactured at Samlesbury.

BAE is one of only two key partners in the American-led JSF project to build the fastest and most lethal jet fighter ever to fly.

The Samlesbury plant is responsible for the design and manufacture of the rear fuselage and tails of all the 22 planes that make up the development phase of the JSF programme.

That contract is worth £1.6 billion to BAE over the next 10 years, with the majority of the work being undertaken at Samlesbury - one of the most advanced manufacturing plants in the world.

Tom Fillingham, vice president at BAE, said the start of manufacturing represented a major step forward for the JSF programme in the UK.

"Until now, the JSF had been a 3-D computer-designed aircraft - now it has taken its first steps in becoming a 'real' aircraft.

"It shows how important JSF is to the UK aerospace industry and, in particular, the North West of England.

The fuselage and tail fins for the first of the 22 development aircraft will be completed in December or January and will be shipped out to Fort Worth in Texas for final assembly.

The JSF programme is led by Lockheed Martin and involves fighter planes for the US Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps as well as the UK's RAF and Royal Navy.

Tom Burbage, Lockheed's general manager for the JSF programme, praised the quality of the Samlesbury site: "BAE Systems brings the advanced manufacturing technology required to keep the F-35 efficient to produce, and therefore affordable for our customers," he said.

"This is a great moment for the JSF programme."