UK's BAE Systems confident on winning new Typhoon orders

Warton, ENGLAND (Reuters) -British defence company BAE Systems is confident on winning new orders for Typhoon military jets from countries such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, its European air sector boss told reporters on Tuesday.

"We're working with the UK government on a number of those campaigns presently," Richard Hamilton, Managing Director for Europe and International in BAE Systems Air sector, said at the group's facility in Warton, northern England.

Asked whether he was confident that those sales campaigns would result in new orders for the aircraft, he said: "yeah, absolutely", adding that there was potential for new orders of up to 150 new Typhoons.

Underpinning that confidence in the new export order, he said, was Britain's commitment to funding upgrades to Typhoon's capabilities, which extends the aircraft's lifespan.

"The confidence it gives the export partner, you know, with the Saudis, with the Turkish, when they see that this thing has a life, it just makes the whole conversation so much easier," he said.

Trade unions in Britain have raised concerns that without the new orders, some BAE final assembly production lines would run out of work in the 2030s.

(Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Catarina Demony)