UP to 600 jobs could be lost among Armed Forces support staff.

The Ministry of Defence announced today that its Defence Support Group (DSG) workforce was likely to be cut by 17.5 per cent nationwide by 2013.

One of DSG's sites is based in Leyburn Road, Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire - Europe's largest army base.

Defence Minister Peter Luff said due to declining orders, the MoD-owned defence equipment support provider would undergo "major structural reform" and staff reductions would start "as soon as possible".

Every effort would be made to make the cuts by voluntary means but compulsory redundancies could not be ruled out, Mr Luff told MPs.

DSG provides expert in-house maintenance, repair, overhaul, upgrade and support services for the UK Armed Forces' air and land systems.

In a written statement to MPs, Mr Luff said: "Despite major cost savings and efficiencies delivered by DSG since its formation on April 2008, the business is faced with declining order books.

"It must therefore begin a major structural reform to realign its capacity and capability with defence customers' reducing demand.

"Based on current workload plans, this will result in a reduction in staff levels by up to 600 by April 2013, around 17.5 per cent of the workforce."