Leading European defence company BAE Systems will be slashing nearly 500 jobs in the coming days.
"...BAE Systems is to close three sites and cut jobs at another three, with the loss of some 500 jobs in the land sector in the UK," the company said in a statement on Thursday.
The firm would see closing down plants at Guildford, Leeds and Telford, which would result in about 300 jobs.
According to the statement, all the sites are in the company's Global Combat Systems (GCS) Vehicles and Weapons businesses, which currently employ 1,820 people in the UK.
BAE Systems pointed out that the move "follows the UK's decision to postpone the FRES - Future Rapid Effects System - Utility Vehicle acquisition and a downturn in work supporting British Army operations in Iraq and Afghanistan".
It also noted that the cuts follow 200 job losses announced in the same business in November 2008.
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About 100 roles from the sites, which are closing, would be transferred to Leicester and Newcastle.
"While we clearly regret having to take this step, our forecast UK order intake has reduced and we have to match the size of our business appropriately to the projected nature and volume of workload," Global Combat Systems Managing Director David Allott said.
BAE Systems is a leading defence, security and aerospace company. It has more than 1,00,000 employees worldwide and the firm's sales stood at more than 18.5 billion pounds in in 2008.