HUNDREDS of workers are anxiously awaiting confirmation of a south coast company and its partners winning a £13 billion tanker aircraft contract.

The government was expected to announce that the AirTanker Consortium - featuring Dorset based Cobham - had won the 27-year contract to build the next generation of large tanker aircraft.

Cobham employs around 9,000 workers worldwide - 1,520 in Dorset alone - and supports hundreds of UK subcontractors, many of them local.

Three MPs - two Labour, one Conservative - have tabled Parliamentary questions for today on tanker aircraft, prompting speculation that today will be the day of the announcement.

Over recent months there has been speculation that AirTanker/Cobham had won the deal. That speculation increased over the weekend.

Between 15 and 20 Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft are needed.

New tankers are required to replace RAF Brize Norton's ageing fleet of nine Tristar and 24 VC10 converted airliners.

Two consortia have been bidding for the contract - Britain's largest Private Finance Initiative (PFI) deal that will create and underpin 3,600 jobs across Hampshire, Dorset and the UK.

On one side is the AirTanker consortium, chaired by Cobham chairman Gordon Page. It comprises:

Wimborne based Cobham with work taking place at Wimborne and Bournemouth Airport, Dorset;

EADS - 80 per cent shareholder in Airbus (the other 20 per cent is owned by BAE Systems);

Rolls-Royce - world-class engine assembly and overhaul;

Thales - avionics systems.

The consortium plans to build tankers by converting new Airbus A330-200 jets.

Rival consortium TTSC - comprising BAE Systems, Boeing, Serco and Spectrum Capital - has based its bid on converting secondhand Boeing 767 airliners, creating 5,000 UK jobs.