Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH
GERMAN DEFENCE minister Volker Ruhe is hoping to find alternative ways to fund the Eurofighter EF2000 programme during 1997, to avoid further delays after Germany's latest defence cuts.
Project sources say that the EF2000 is included in budget planning for 1997, although no funds are yet allocated to it. Ruhe is counting on money becoming available at a later date, possibly from delays or cuts in other programmes, such as the Franco-German Eurocopter Tiger attack helicopter. The defence ministry had planned to allocate some DM350 million ($236.4 million) to the programme in the 1997 budget, but this had to be cut after finance minister Theo Waigel demanded a DM1.8 billion budget reduction in 1997, in an attempt to meet requirements for European monetary union. Sources say that about half of the planned budget allocation could now be drawn from other programmes, with the rest of the money possibly coming from German Eurofighter partner Daimler-Benz Aerospace.
If Bonn fails to raise sufficient funds for 1997, Germany's production-investment phase could be delayed by a year, causing extra expense and rendering useless current industry price-estimates, submitted to the Government earlier this year. Until now, Germany has officially been expected to go ahead with production investment by the end of the year. The budget is to be submitted to parliament for debate during September.
UK defence officials particularly fear that a fresh German-initiated delay could cause Spain and Italy to follow suit, to ease pressure on their national budgets.
Source: Flight International
