Britain on Wednesday gave the go-ahead to a 700-million-pound (1.0-million-euro, 1.2-billion-dollar) deal with French defence group Thales for unmanned planes known as drones, potentially creating hundreds of jobs.
Defence secretary John Reid said he had given the green light for the so-called Watchkeeper unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) contract for Britain's armed forces.
"We can move forward to the demonstration and manufacture phase of this important programme, subject to finalisation of a contract with Thales, worth around 700 million pounds," Reid said.
"We plan to deliver this capability incrementally from 2010."
The French group was selected as preferred bidder for the Watchkeeper programme in 2004 — but the value of the deal at the time was quoted as 800 million pounds with delivery pencilled in for 2006.
Thales said in a statement that the contract was expected to create or sustain up to 2,000 manufacturing jobs in Britain, where Thales currently employs some 11,000 people.
"With export success this could rise further. The aim is to bring Watchkeeper into service from 2010," it added.
Its Watchkeeper team also includes Elbit Systems Ltd, Cubic Defence and Boeing.
"We would expect to sign the (Thales) contract in the next few weeks," a spokeman for the Ministry of Defence told AFP.
"Basically, we've announced our investment approval for the programme."
