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Work on the EU’s flagship satellite network is set to move out of Britain after Brexit, the head of Airbus declared.

Managing Director Colin Paynter said work on Galileo, currently run out of Portsmouth, will move to France and Germany “on day one” if the firm wins a new £175m contract.

He said Brussels made a condition that the work, on ground control operations, “has to be led by an EU-based company by March 2019.”

He told MPs on the Brexit Committee: “We have committed to, should we win that bid, we will do all the work in the EU27 at our sites in France in Germany.

“That has made us slightly less competitive because we’re moving away from where the heritage and skill is, which is in the UK.”

“And I think a number of companies are in the process of moving that work so they comply with conditions of the tenders.”

Airbus put in its bid last month.

(Image: PA)

It is the latest twist in a Brexit row over Brussels’ £9bn satellite navigation network.

Brussels has reportedly threatened to cut UK ties with Galileo, an EU rival to the US-controlled GPS network, on security grounds.

In turn UK sources are threatening to block Galileo from using UK overseas territories, block UK firms from passing sensitive information to the EU - or even set up a £3bn rival UK system.

A top military chief branded the EU’s threats “odd”.

Air Marshal Edward Stringer, RAF Director General Joint Force Development, told the Policy Exchange think tank: “European defence is a nicety - the defence of Europe is a necessity.

“When you consider how much we share with our European allies it does seem odd that security questions are raised over something like Galileo. I’m sure those are not insurmountable.”

(Image: Getty)

Top Lockheed Martin executive Patrick Wood added the row was “a small glitch along the way”.

But Labour MP Jo Stevens, speaking for anti-Brexit group Best For Britain, said: “This is the latest in a line of miserable consequences for people’s’ livelihoods that Theresa May’s Brexit will bring.

“The UK will be putting itself at a strategic disadvantage for generations to come.”

Transport Minister Jesse Norman said: “We want to continue the Galileo arrangements. We think that it’s enormously benefited from UK [co-operation] over the years.

“We’ve been clear about our commitment to security more widely and across Europe. And it’s something that I believe we’ll reach a resolution on.”