Burnham urged to award £2.4bn military satellite contract to Airbus over US rival

Work on a satellite at the Airbus factory in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA View image in fullscreen Work on a satellite at the Airbus factory in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA Burnham urged to award £2.4bn military satellite contract to Airbus over US rival Unite union leader says giving Skynet 6 WSS contract to Lockheed Martin would be a ‘massive mistake’ Business live – latest updates One of the Labour party’s biggest union backers has called for Andy Burnham to award a £2.4bn military satellite contract to the European manufacturer Airbus rather than a US rival, Lockheed Martin, amid concerns that as many as 600 jobs may be at risk. Sharon Graham, the general secretary of the Unite union, said it would be a “massive mistake” to go for a US company over Airbus, which is headquartered in France but designs and builds satellites in Stevenage in Hertfordshire and Portsmouth in Hampshire. Burnham left with £4.7bn bill for Starmer’s new defence investment plan Read more The bid battle is likely to be seen as an early test of how Burnham’s pledge to use “public procurement to back British industry” will work. It will also be one of the first major spending decisions for the new defence secretary, Wes Streeting, as the UK tries to navigate the tricky relationship with the nationalistic US administration under Donald Trump, who wants other countries to buy more American kit . The Skynet 6 wideband satellite system (WSS) will be two geostationary satellites to carry the UK Ministry of Defence’s most sensitive data. However, the union, which represents workers making the satellites, and the Labour MP for Stevenage, Kevin Bonavia, are putting pressure on the government to opt for Airbus to preserve existing jobs rather than choosing the US deal. Lockheed Martin has promised to create about 500 direct jobs in north-east England, including an assembly facility in Durham, plus another 1,500 jobs in the broader supply chain. The potential for exports from the UK to other countries is thought to be a key part of its offer, as well as integration with the US military. Critics of the Lockheed bid said the US company would rely on American intellectual property rather than using technology developed in Britain. Lockheed has pledged to keep any intellectual property it develops in the UK, and has already invested in a research partnership with Northumbria University in Newcastle. View image in fullscreen Sharon Graham, centre, the general secretary of Unite, warned against ‘handing the British space industry over to the Americans’. Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian Graham said: “Andy Burnham has said he is backing Britain and British jobs. The Skynet WSS contract could be the first test of this. These satellites have been designed and built in Britain for the last 20 years ensuring hundreds of skilled jobs in Stevenage and Portsmouth , as well as thousands more in the supply chain. “Handing the British space industry ov