Stewart Penney/LONDON
Eurofighter International (EFI) - the sales and marketing company created to promote the Eurofighter Typhoon - has taken over contract negotiations with Greece and is strengthening the industrial package offered to Norway.
Greece announced last year that it would order 60-90 Typhoons to meet its next generation fighter requirement. Norway, meanwhile, is to choose this year between the Lockheed Martin F-16 and the Typhoon for a 20-fighter order. Industrial offset and wider participation in the Eurofighter programme by Greek and Norwegian companies is a key part of both offers.
EFI president Cesare Gianni says the next two years provide an ideal "window of opportunity" for more partners to join the programme as it is at the start of the production phase and future development provides chances for further participation.
Gianni says EFI aims to finish negotiations with Greece before parliamentary elections on 9 April. "The aim is to reach agreement before the election. The contract may be signed later."
At the same time, the Eurofighter partner companies are discussing the privatisation of Hellenic Aerospace Industries (HAI), which the Greek Government is considering in parallel to the fighter deal. DaimlerChrysler Aerospace (Dasa) chairman Manfred Bischoff is due to visit HAI next week.
Gianni says involving additional industrial partners in Eurofighter is not difficult as three consortium members - Alenia of Italy, BAE Systems and Dasa - developed the Panavia co-operation model when forming Eurofighter with Spanish company Casa.
The offers are not simply work packages, says Gianni, but will allow the countries to update the Typhoon's weapon system, including the software. "This is not just an industrial package, but a capability to maintain and update the weapon system in the future," he says.
As well as Kongsberg, which has been awarded unconditional single-source component contracts by BAE, EFI is talking to a range of Norwegian companies, says Gianni, including software and electronic specialists.
Meanwhile, the South Korean air force pilots and the Royal Netherlands Air Force chief of staff are due to fly the Eurofighter. The latter is set to fly the aircraft next month, while South Korea will send a delegation to Europe in the third quarter to evaluate the Typhoon as part of its F-X competition. The team will include technicians and industrial specialists as well as aircrew.
Source: Flight International
