Andrjez Jeziorski/MUNICH
A new danger, to the Eurofighter programme, is looming in Germany with the spectre of further defence cuts early in 1997.
Industrial and political sources say that the defence ministry could be facing a new cutback of between DM300 million ($200 million) and DM500 million in 1997. Germany is already struggling with finding sufficient funding for the production investment phase of the fighter programme.
Dietrich Austermann, parliamentary arms appropriation committee chairman, warned last week that, "-if the federal minister of finance cuts the defence budget again, the Eurofighter is dead."
New cuts would go against recent statements from finance minister Theo Waigel that defence, research and transport would not be affected by further budget savings. The defence ministry says that it is consulting with the finance ministry over the issue, but that no decision has been taken yet and any figures quoted now are "speculation".
Even without a new wave of cuts, the Eurofighter programme's position is becoming increasingly precarious, with emergency meetings in Bonn between Daimler-Benz boss Jürgen Schrempp and defence minister Volker Rühe in early November failing to reach a solution to the current funding gap.
Daimler-Benz Aerospace (DASA) insists that it needs at least DM350 million to proceed with the production-investment phase of the programme in 1997. So far, the ministry is only offering DM100 million and DASA is adamant that it will not cover the difference.
Opportunities still exist for money to be siphoned off from other defence programmes, although the possibilities will remain unclear until a December summit meeting between German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and French President Jacques Chirac decides the fate of key threatened Franco-German defence programmes.
In the meantime, the defence ministry says that it is considering delaying upgrades to its Panavia Tornado fleet, including the installation of new computers and databuses, and the procurement of laser-designator pods, to divert this money into the Eurofighter.
If the go-ahead is not given before the end of the year, current industrial price calculations for the aircraft will be invalidated, costs will escalate and export opportunities could be threatened.
"A delay in production investment beyond the 1 January, 1997, deadline would not only make the programme considerably more expensive, but would also endanger the existence of several component suppliers," says DASA president Manfred Bischoff, who is also president of the German Aerospace Industries Association (BDLI). Some 100 small and medium-sized suppliers are involved in vital Eurofighter contracts worth an estimated total of DM7.5 billion, says the BDLI.
The Association adds that a delay in the Eurofighter decision would seriously undermine international confidence in Germany, and could threaten the German work-share in the programme.
Rühe is under pressure to arrive at a decision before 14 November, when the parliamentary budget committee meets to finalise the 1997 defence budget. This is recognised as the last opportunity to solve the problem "by conventional means", as moving money around within the budget will become much more difficult after this date, say sources in Bonn.
In fact, the final opportunity will be during a European Council meeting in mid-December in Ireland, to be attended by Kohl and UK Prime Minister John Major.
Source: Flight International
