Defence

The Eurofighter consortium is hoping for rapid progress with the programme's four partner nations on a Tranche 3 production order for 236 aircraft, with its chief executive warning of a possible break in production activities if an agreement is not signed by early next year.

Eurofighter submitted a baseline proposal for the full Tranche 3 package last December, but was asked to provide options to cut programme costs by mid-February, and to potentially halve or delete planned purchases by Italy and the UK, confirms Aloysius Rauen. Germany and Spain remain fully committed to acquiring their total planned fleets of the type, he adds.

"We are waiting to get a response from the four nations and NETMA [NATO's Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency] regarding concrete negotiations for Tranche 3," says Rauen. "If we want to secure a continuation in production we need to sign something at the end of this year, or in the first quarter of 2009. Anything else would create extra costs."

Two key programme meetings were held on 27 and 29 May at the ILA air show in Berlin, where Rauen said: "We are very positive that we will get some news by the end of this week."

The Eurofighter programme experienced a costly break in production activities due to the delayed signature of its Tranche 2 manufacturing contract earlier this decade.

Uncertainty over the deal partly contributed to the Typhoon's elimination from an export competition in Singapore, and with near-term opportunities in nations including Greece, India, Japan, Romania, Switzerland and Turkey, Rauen is keen to avoid any repeat. "If someone wants to cut the numbers they have to compensate the other partners - and us," he cautions.

Meanwhile, Tranche 2 production deliveries are set to begin "before the summer break", with type acceptance work now complete and 40 aircraft in various stages of final assembly. "It is now only an issue of paperwork," says Rauen.