'Vast majority' of Eurofighter production could be made available to Malaysia

The vast majority of systems and components that make up the Eurofighter Typhoon could be made available to Malaysia for localised production should the Southeast Asian country select the aircraft to meet its requirement for a multirole combat aircraft (MRCA) platform, BAE Systems has confirmed.

A spokeswoman from the UK-headquartered company - which is leading the Eurofighter bid in Malaysia on behalf of the wider consortium - confirmed to IHS Jane's on 4 July that the production of up to 90 per cent of the aircraft's components could be "available for participation" by Malaysian companies.

John Brosnan, BAE Systems managing director of Southeast Asia, had earlier told Malaysia's state-owned Bernama news agency that while "most of the aircraft probably won't be made in Malaysia ... it is for Malaysia to decide which bits of it they want to do".

The BAE Systems spokeswoman also stressed that details related to any workshare deal on the aircraft had not been finalised. Such details would form part of the defence offset programme attached to a contract.