German Chancellor Olaf Scholz used the opening day of the ILA Berlin air show to announce a surprise order for 20 more Eurofighter combat aircraft.
To be produced for the German air force, the new aircraft are in addition to those examples already under contract via Berlin’s Project Quadriga acquisition.
“I am committed to the preservation and expansion of production capacity,” Scholz says. “We will order another 20 Eurofighters in this legislative period, in addition to the 38 aircraft that are already in the pipeline.
“In addition we will support further perspectives for the Eurofighter, also including its export,” he says, adding: “we will ensure utilisation for that production capacity.”
“We welcome this decision as an important step in the right direction to maintain Germany’s competence in military aircraft manufacturing and to further develop the Eurofighter,” Airbus Defence & Space says in a post on social media platform X.
Acquiring the additional Eurofighters will enable the German air force to maintain its fleet size during a project to modify 15 in-service examples to a new electronic warfare, or EK-model standard.
Additional reporting by Pilar Wolfsteller
