BAE Systems will this week come a step closer to securing the £5billion order for the second wave of RAF Eurofighter Typhoons.
The contract for 236 of the Pan-European combat aircraft is vital not just to the company's Samlesbury and Warton factories but the aerospace suppliers across East Lancashire including Rolls Royce in Barnoldswick.
The Investment Approvals Board of the Ministry of Defence -- the panel which scrutinises all weapons programmes -- will meet later this week with the Eurofighter order top of the agenda.
They are expected to confirm the go-ahead which will then be sent to ministers for approval with the formal announcement expected early next month.
Britain's partners in the programme -- Germany, Italy and Spain -- are all ready to give the order the green light, but BAE and the MoD have been arguing over the price and capability of the aircraft.
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