AMERICAN aircraft giant Loral has fired its first shots in the battle to win a £2 billion Ministry of Defence contract.

It is proposing to replace the 25 ageing Nimrod sea patrol planes of RAF Kinloss with 25 refurbished American Orions, renamed the Valkyrie.

The firm said it would create more than 4,000 jobs in the UK.

Other bids have also come from British Aerospace - which in conjunction with American firm Boeing wants to update the Nimrod - and from another US firm, Lockheed Martin, which aims to build a new version of the existing Orion. Both bids would benefit East Lancashire factories.

But Loral said its bid would cost less and would boost the UK aerospace industry. Most of the work would go to Marshall's, of Cambridge, along with other firms around the country, including Shorts of Belfast.

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