Gus Vlassis/ATHENS
Greece's Eurofighter Typhoon procurement has moved into the final straight with the negotiating committee having passed the deal to a prime ministerial committee for final ratification. Meanwhile, the privatisation of Hellenic Aerospace Industries (HAI) has been put on hold.
Following the conclusion of the negotiations, the deal has been passed to a committee of the prime minister and the finance and defence ministers. They will review the terms before deciding whether to pass it to parliament for final approval. Eurofighter sources suggest this could take place by the end of this month.
The 60-aircraft deal is valued at 1.7 trillion drachmas ($4.4 billion) - down from the original 2 trillion drachmas price-tag - but includes an option on a further 30 fighters. Deliveries are due to begin in 2006.
Sources close to the Greek defence ministry say the negotiations led to a "better price and more acceptable terms than initially stipulated". The funding will not come from the five-year armaments budget but other sources.
Greek sources suggest that a deposit payment has been reduced from 70% to 50% of the contract value and that it will be paid in installments next year, 2002 and 2003. The first payment has also been pushed back three months.
Greece's workshare of the 60 aircraft will increase by 10% to 30%, say the sources. Which components will be sourced from Greece and when production will start is still to be agreed.
Although around 340 billion drachmas are to be invested into HAI to build facilities linked to Eurofighter production, privatisation has been put on hold, due to dissent from the parliamentary opposition. The Eurofighter consortium members and Dassault are competing for the HAI stake.
Meanwhile, Eurofighter prototype DA2 - which is fitted with 500 pressure sensors - has deployed to RAF Leuchars in Scotland for a series of high-speed and high angle of attack trials.
Source: Flight International
