BRITISH Aerospace has declared war on the Americans!

Matra BAe Dynamics are up against US opposition Raytheon in the competition to supply the Eurofighter Typhoon with a mid-distance air to air missile.

And Matra's Meteor missile is the revolutionary weapon that could help consolidate thousands of jobs across Lancashire if the Ministry of Defence selects it.

Deputy chief executive Alan Garwood explained: "The decision is not to always go for simply what is best. Politics does come into it.

"We can't afford to let the American's win as they will use the fact that the European plane has American missiles on it to stop us exporting it.

"It happened recently when the Swedes tried to sell Finland some Gripen aircraft. The Americans refused to sell their missiles and offered the Finns F18s complete with weapons. No one is going to buy a plane they can't fit missiles to so the Finns naturally selected the American plane."

Developed by Matra BAe dynamics with Aerospace partners AleniaMarconi Systems, Casa, DaimlerChrysler Aerospace and Saab, the Meteor can be fired from further away than other missiles.

If Matra win, it will be a treble for them as they have already won contracts to put short-range missiles on American planes and to supply cruise missiles to Israel.

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