Europe's fighter manufacturers believe the selection of Lockheed Martin's F-35 as the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) has made little change to the market potential of their products.
Eurofighter International president Cesare Gianni says the company's forecast for Typhoon exports is 400 aircraft over 20 years and "that is still our target".
Near-term sales campaigns include Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway, all of which have negotiated JSF participation. Norway last week restarted the fighter competition it abandoned last year. Oslo is seeking 65 aircraft and is starting talks with NEFMA, the Eurofighter management agency, about participation in future Typhoon developments.
In the Netherlands, Eurofighter late last month signed a industrial participation memorandum of understanding with Fokker Aerospace. As Eurofighter is owned by BAE Systems and EADS, work on Airbus airliners and the military A400M is on offer as well as participation in the fighter's future developments. Another deal covering participation in the EJ200 engine has been signed with a group of Dutch companies.
The Saab/BAE Gripen has scored recent successes over US products in the Czech Republic and Hungary. The company questions, as do the other European fighter houses, when export JSFs will be available. Estimates range from 2011-2 to 2014-5. Saab/BAE says many of the competitions it is involved in require aircraft before 2010. It still aims to secure 20% of the fighter market.
Dassault says it has always faced US competition and that it still expects to export at least 300 Rafales.
Source: Flight International
