Non-Subscriber Extract
Tranche 2 nod for Eurofighter
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| 20 December 2004 |
By Damian Kemp JDW Aviation Editor and
Georg Mader JDW Correspondent
London & Vienna
Additional reporting by
Robert Hewson Editor, Jane's Air-Launched Weapons
RAF Coningsby
The eventual go-ahead for Eurofighter Typhoon Tranche 2 production, given on 14 December, brings to an end protracted negotiations and fears of a cost blow-out but more importantly moves the fleet of aircraft into the possibility of a ground attack role.
Tranche 2 is worth £13 billion ($25 billion) and involves 68 aircraft for Germany, 46 for Italy, 33 for Spain and 89 for the UK; deliveries are expected to run until 2010.
The tortured birth of the aircraft has continued through a troubled childhood for the past year, as promises for Tranche 2 signatures were not kept.
While this had an impact upon planned in-service dates and more recently the prospect of delivering aircraft ordered by Austria on time, the larger impact was on the ability of industry to sustain manufacturing capability in the face of a looming production gap.
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) and BAE Systems have been blamed for the delays.
Austria has ordered 18 single-seat Typhoons out of Tranche 2 for EUR1.95 billion ($2.6 billion), due for delivery from May 2007 to 2009. Austria selected the Tranche 1 variant but the contract, with EADS as lead company, did not become valid until 21 August 2003 and Tranche 2 was selected.
The Tranche 2 signature for Austria is significant because of opposition to the purchase by the country's left-wing opposition party, which criticised Typhoon as an "immature experiment" and "a ticket into NATO".
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