The base works on fighter aircraft

But he said there was a chance to develop a centre of excellence for the industry near the airport.

Up to 165 workers from Dara are due to move in a separate development to Hampshire.

Last December, the government said it was committed to maintaining a "significant" RAF jet repair base in south Wales, following fears of jobs being relocated to England.

Welsh Secretary Paul Murphy and Armed Forces Minister John Spellar had met to discuss the future of RAF St Athan following fears expressed by John Smith, MP for the Vale of Glamorgan.

Fully commercial

Mr Smith had raised concerns over possible options being considered by Dara to move some staff to the west country or a new site in Cardiff Bay.

Mr Spellar said he wanted to reassure employees of the Defence Aviation Repair Agency at St Athan and the local community.

He explained that one area of change was Dara moving to a Trading Fund status - which meant operations would have to work along fully commercial lines - while remaining in the ownership of the MoD.

Dara would therefore need to win business contracts in the highly competitive defence market place, he said.

This meant reducing overheads and streamlining its processes in line with industry best practice.