German defence minister Volker Rühe has been ordered to present parliament with a Eurofighter procurement plan by the end of January before the production investment phase of the programme is approved.
Rühe failed to secure 1997's funding for the Eurofighter before the critical 14 November meeting of the parliamentary budget committee which fixed the 1997 defence budget. Parliament has given him another two-and-a-half months to come up with a plan. Daimler-Benz Aerospace says that it needs at least DM350 million ($230 million) from the Government, while Rühe has only offered DM100 million to date.
For now, the 1997 German defence budget remains as before, with no money allocated to the Eurofighter. Sources within the Eurofighter partners say that they can live with a three-month delay. "January is not a critical delay, but if it drifts beyond January then you have a serious problem," says one programme source.
The programme's supporters hope that the 9 December meeting between German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and French President Jacques Chirac may free funding allocated to shaky Franco-German defence programmes, such as the Tiger attack helicopter and the Helios II/Horus satellites.
Source: Flight International
