London, July 9 (IANS) American aerospace giant Boeing announced that it has signed an agreement with the UK's Ministry of Defence to support the Royal Air Force's (RAF) Poseidon MRA1 maritime patrol aircraft fleet and train the crews that operate them for the next five years.

In a statement on Thursday, Boeing said that it will provide maintenance services, spares and repairs under the aircraft and training support contract valued at $321.6 million, reports Xinhua news agency.

These agreements will create 150 jobs in the UK, including more than 100 at RAF Lossiemouth in northern Scotland, the announcement added.

Boeing employees are already working alongside RAF personnel at the station in Moray, supporting the current fleet of five Poseidons.

"We are excited to see our continued growing presence in Scotland with the creation of these highly-skilled jobs, in addition to our existing footprint of more than 2,500 employees across the UK," said Anna Keeling, Managing Director of Boeing Defence UK.

The RAF is on contract for nine Poseidon aircraft with five already delivered and the remaining four scheduled for later this year, when around 200 Boeing employees are expected to be based at RAF Lossiemouth focused on maintenance, training and support, the aerospace giant added.

--IANS ksk/