Three of the four Eurofighter partner nations (Italy, Spain and the UK) will be ready to sign-off the production phase of the Eurofighter EF2000 combat-aircraft project by the end of June.
John Weston, British Aerospace group managing director, says that by the close of the month the three countries will be in a position to sign a key memorandum of understanding, clearing the way for aircraft production.
The move is aimed at pressurising the fourth partner nation - Germany - into committing to the programme. The German cabinet is due to meet on 11 July, with the EF2000 one of the critical issues to be discussed.
Germany has so far failed to allocate the required funding for the production-investment phase of the aircraft programme.
Senior UK Government officials claim that Chancellor Helmut Kohl has given his "personal commitment" to the project.
Pushing ahead with the production phase of the programme as soon as possible is viewed as critical to the EF2000's near-term opportunities in the export market.
The EF2000 is being considered by Australia, Norway and the United Arab Emirates for future combat-aircraft needs.
Air force pilots from the four participating Eurofighter nations have recently completed a second preview of the EF2000, flying the DA7. The main aim of the evaluation is to examine the performance of the Eurojet EJ200 engine. The first preview was carried out using the DA1, which was fitted with the TurboUnion RB199 engine developed for the Panavia Tornado.
Source: Flight International
