A TEAM of BAE SYSTEMS workers at Samlesbury has won a top award from US aerospace giant Lockheed Martin for its contribution towards the multi-billion-dollar Joint Strike Fighter project.

The high-flying employees have collected a prestigious Aerostar award -- the first ever to be awarded to non-Lockheed staff.

The Samlesbury team took the prize for its ground-breaking work on the "stealth" characteristics of the airframe which make the plane less visible.

BAE SYSTEMS is a key partner in the Lockheed Joint Strike Fighter programme which is the world's largest-ever military aircraft development and production competition.

The winning consortium will build an estimated 3,000 planes for the US air force, navy and marine corps and for the RAF and Royal Navy which wants it to replace its Sea Harriers.

The Samles bury plant has produced an aft fuselage ground-based demonstrator as part of the development programme. The full-sized model showed how the smooth surfaces required for the next generation fighter aircraft could be achieved in production.

The Aerostar award was presented by Lockheed vice-president Tom Burbage to Chris Boardman, BAE managing director responsible for the JSF programme, and airframe team leader John Duxbury.

"We are very excited about receiving this award, " said Chris Boardman. "It is proof of the innovation and technological excellence BAE SYSTEMS brings to the Lockheed Martin JSF team. BAE SYSTEMS is responsible for the design and integration of the aft fuselage, horizontal and vertical tails and the wing-fold mechanism for the aircraft carrier version.