"Everything is going smoothly, other than the delay with the Eurofighter second tranche contract", says Pablo De Bergia, head of EADS's military aircraft business unit in Spain.
EADS Casa has a 13% share of Eurofighter, reflecting the Spanish air force's 87-aircraft requirement. The first three aircraft have been delivered from EADS Casa's assembly line at Getafe and are operational.
De Bergia says he is generally satisfied with the Eurofighter operation, although he confesses to "some concern" over the several months' delay in signing contracts for the second production tranche of 236 Eurofighters, which has been caused by customer governments - Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK - reassessing budget priorities.
Negotiations for the order are close to being finalised and a contract signature should come within three months, De Bergia says.
Source: Flight International