Eurofighter partners urge new Athens government to sign for Typhoon, but Dassault steps up campaign to push Rafale
The battle to secure Greece's fighter commitment shifted up a gear last week, with the Eurofighter partners offering Athens a greater role in the programme and Dassault predicting a renewed competition.
A Greek order for 60 Eurofighter Typhoons, plus 30 options, has remained stalled since the election of a new government in March and due to the mounting $9.3 billion costs of the Olympic Games.
Defence export ministers from Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK last week urged their Greek counterpart to sign a commitment for the Typhoon during the Defendory show in Athens. Greater involvement for Greek industry may be offered as a lure. "It is a priority to create a role for Greece," says Giorgio Zappa, chief executive of Eurofighter partner Alenia Aeronautica. "We welcome Greece inside the programme."
Offering the Rafale, Dassault says the centre-right New Democracy administration has pledged to revisit all procurement decisions made by its socialist predecessor. "We have asked the Greek government to reopen the competition and they have said they will do that," says Benoit Dussaugey, Dassault's vice-president military sales for Europe. The company is promoting the Rafale's cost and weapons interoperability benefits with Greece's Mirage fighters.
However, a Eurofighter source says there is "little point in a smoke and mirrors new competition when the Rafale was rejected on technical grounds in the first place".
MURDO MORRISON / ATHENS
Source: Flight International
