A BRITISH Aerospace chief has played down worries over the company’s lack of involvement in a new fighter jet.

Chris Boardman, managing director of BAE’s military aircraft business, dismissed fears about its lack of involvement in a new French-German fighter jet.

Speaking at a military airshow, Mr Boardman insisted BAE was already involved in a similar but more advanced programme in Turkey.

Some have questioned BAE’s exclusion, claiming it is a sign of Britain’s waning influence as Europe’s leading military power following the vote for Brexit.

But Mr Boardman said: “BAE - and Britain - are already doing the next generation fighter with Turkey.

“We have engineers deploying to Turkey as we speak to start work on that process.”

BAE, which has bases at Samlesbury and Warton, has signed early agreements alongside Rolls-Royce with Turkey to help develop the so-called TF-X fighter, of which as many as 250 could be ordered.

The new European project was announced in Paris by French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Mr Boardman said a current Anglo-French agreement to develop a new unmanned drone - FCAS - would not be threatened by the new announcement.

He said: “I don feel threatened by anything I have seen. We have a contract to develop an FCAS demonstrator which we are working closely with Dassault on.

“Nothing I see is stopping the pace of that development.”

In unveiling their plans to develop a European fighter jet, France and Germany buried past rivalries as part of a raft of measures to tighten defence and security cooperation.

The move to develop a new warplane accelerates steps that are expected to shape the future of the European fighter industry and its three existing programmes – the Eurofighter, France’s Rafale and Sweden’s Gripen.

The move also reflects efforts to give fresh impetus to Franco-German relations in the aftermath of Britain’s decision to leave the European Union. It was described by defence experts as a snub to Europe’s leading military power.

France and Germany aim to come up with a roadmap by mid-2018 for jointly leading development of the new aircraft to replace their existing fleets of rival warplanes, according to a document issued after a Franco-German meeting in Paris.