The Canadian-owned aerospace company said the expansion would help sustain the jobs of the 360 employees at the factory, which is housed in parts of the former De Lorean plant.

The 20,000 sq ft dedicated facility in the Shorts plant has been in full production since late last year, but the scale of the investment has only now been revealed.

The formal announcement was made by Nigel Dodds, the Economy Minister, during a visit to the Paris Air Show, where Bombardier has a major presence.

On display at the show was a new Bombardier CRJ900 NextGen aircraft, which has been fitted with the new lightweight composite wing parts from Dunmurry.

Mr Dodds said that Invest NI had committed support of £1.5m to the project.

He said: "This new facility is yet another example of Bombardier leading the way in research and development in the aerospace sector.

" The manufacturing capability builds upon the company's existing links with Northern Ireland's universities, particularly the composite research centre at the University of Ulster."

The Minister said the project, which was the culmination of more than five years of research, would help to strengthen Northern Ireland's "knowledge infrastructure".

Michael Ryan, vice president and general manager of Bombardier Shorts, said that composites were playing an increasingly important part in aircraft design because they were lighter, more durable and contained fewer components than traditional metallic parts.

"The new resin transfer moulding facility in Dunmurry enables us to set new standards in composites manufacturing," he said. Mr Ryan said the project strengthens the strategic importance of the operation at Shorts and would help towards helping new aircraft meet weight reduction and environmental targets.

At the air show Bombardier also announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the China Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC 1).

The deal will see the two companies co-operating on the development of a new AVIC 1 105-seat aircraft, in which Bombardier is investing £50m.

As part of the agreement, AVIC 1 is to invest £200m in Bombardier's proposed new £1bn C-series aircraft, for which the Chinese company will manufacture the fuselage.

Bombardier is due next year to decide whether to go ahead with the C-series, a new generation of 110-130 seat aircraft.

If the project gets the green light Shorts will receive a major boost because it will be producing the wings.