Cameron announces £3m for training

The funding for 500 Masters level degree places over the next three years was revealed as the MOD prepared to sign a £50m defence contract for a full flight simulator for the Airbus A400M.

The training places will be jointly funded with industry, with Government committing £3m, and will help to provide the industry with its next generation of skilled engineers.

Mr Cameron said: “In a hugely difficult time in the global economy UK aerospace is, quite simply, flying – employing more than 100,000 people, turning over more than £20bn a year, holding a 17 per cent share of the global market.

“That’s why we as a government are doing everything possible to get behind UK aerospace. But there can be absolutely no complacency.

“We’ve established an Aerospace Growth Partnership to make sure that five, 10, 20 years down the line this industry continues to thrive and grow.”

The flight simulator will be designed and built by Thales Training and Simulation in Crawley, West Sussex, and located at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.

The MoD has ordered 22 of the A400Ms to replace the fleet of C-130 Hercules, with the first delivery expected in 2014.

Around 1,400 exhibitors from more than 40 countries will be at the Farnborough Air Show, including entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson, who will be giving an update on his Virgin Galactic space tourism plans.