BAE Systems is to cut 500 UK jobs.

The world’s third largest defence company BAE Systems is to close three sites in the UK, resulting in 500 job losses.

According to the statement issued on the BAE Systems website, the job cuts and the factory closures are part of an “on-going transformation programme in the UK land sector.”

The job losses are the latest round of cuts at BAE Systems, which axed 200 positions in November 2008.

Sites in Guildford, Leeds and Telford will be closed, resulting in the loss of 330 jobs. The remainder of the job cuts will be made at BAE Systems’ other UK sites in Newcastle and Leicester. Approximately 90 jobs will also be lost in the Weapons business in Barrow and an additional 30 positions will be cut through efficiency measures.

Around 100 roles from the factory closures will be saved and transferred to the defence giant’s sites in Newcastle and Leicester.

Global Combat Systems Managing Director, David Allott, said: “We must consolidate a fragmented site infrastructure to reduce fixed overheads, whilst at the same time transforming our skills mix to increase our UK focus on systems integration and win orders internationally.

“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.”

BAE Systems employs 105,000 people worldwide, with around 32,600 employees in the UK.