LONDON — BAE Systems has signed a $2.5 billion deal to supply Saudi Arabia with Hawk jets to train pilots to fly the Eurofighter Typhoon, which it already has ordered from a company in the United Kingdom.

The deal provides some welcome relief for the British defence giant, which is battling against shrinking European and American defense budgets and fierce competition.

The deal covers the supply of 22 new Hawk advanced jet trainer aircraft, which will be made in Britain, 55 Swiss made Pilatus turboprop aircraft, as well as training equipment and other support services, BAE said on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia’s official news agency SPA, quoted an unnamed official at the Saudi defense ministry as saying the Hawks would help train “the Saudi air force to be able to use the fighter jets ... efficiently.”

The majority of the Hawks will be made at BAE’s plants in Samlesbury and Warton in Lancashire, northwest England, with some to be built at its site in Brough, Yorkshire, which is due to close in 2014, according to BAE.

The British trade union Unite said 218 jobs at the plant in Brough would be saved as a result of the deal. BAE previously said 845 jobs at Brough would be cut.