Gripen, Typhoon hang on in Romanian dogfight

The prospective fortunes of the contenders for Romania's fighter requirement, the Saab JAS 39C/D Gripen and the Eurofighter Typhoon, were revitalised on 11 May when they re-presented their prospective bids in Bucharest at the behest of the Romanian parliament.

This was despite the 23 March recommendation of the Supreme Council for National Defence (CSAT), led by the country's president, Traian Basescu, that Romania purchase 24 second-hand Lockheed Martin F-16A/Bs for USD1.3 billion.

The Gripen bid was led by the Swedish Defence Materiel Organisation (FMV) as a government-to-government offer, while Italy's Finmeccanica took the lead for Eurofighter. Lockheed Martin was also invited to re-present its bid but stated it needed more time to prepare.

The Swedish offer to Romania – the delivery of 24 new JAS 39C/Ds for EUR1 billion (USD1.25 billion) matching the price of the second-hand F-16s – was initially made on 14 April and mirrors what it has offered neighbouring Bulgaria.

Eurofighter, meanwhile, has also matched the price of the F-16s, offering 24 aircraft from the Italian Air Force's Typhoon inventory. Twenty-four second-hand Typhoons for EUR1 billion is a competitive price, given that Austria paid EUR1.75 billion for 15 nearly new ex-German Typhoons.