German defence minister Volker Rühe has admitted that Bonn could pull out of the Eurofighter programme, raising tensions among the European partners to their highest level since the German-led funding fiasco of 1992 which led to lengthy programme delays.
In an interview with the German newspaper Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, Rühe says that he does not want to speculate further on a cancellation of the programme, "-but nobody can rule it out". He also says that a decision on the fate of the Eurofighter must be made in July for the 1998 budget .
The German cabinet will meet to finalise 1998's budget on 2 July, and is expected to make a decision then on whether to proceed with the production phase.
Rühe has been counting on support from finance minister Theo Waigel, who agreed verbally early this year to back the cash-strapped defence ministry with DM1 billion ($590 million) over four years. Waigel, struggling to meet European monetary union criteria by 1999, says in an interview with the Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung on 23 May that one way of finding the cash would be for earlier state aid to develop Airbus aircraft due to be paid back to Bonn by Dasa in 2001 could be paid early and used for Eurofighter funding. The idea is believed to have originated with Dasa boss Manfred Bischoff.
Eurofighter industrial partner Dasa has been paying DM1 million of its own money daily into production investment work because of repeated delays to a firm commitment from the German Government. The company will cease the funding at the end of June, say programme sources.
Even if the cabinet gives the programme a green light, the decision still has to be cleared by parliament, which begins its summer recess on 27 June and does not return until September. Pressure from the UK for an earlier cabinet decision has been fruitless.
The situation is causing unprecedented anxiety in Italy, Spain and the UK, which may not be able to afford to proceed without Germany. Dasa says that the Government's procrastination is also threatening 18,000 current and future Eurofighter-related jobs in Germany, not to mention the country's credibility as a partner in a restructured European industry.
UK Government officials admit that they are "very worried" about recent developments in Germany. The Anglo-German summit on 6 June is regarded as "absolutely critical" to the fate of the project.
Source: Flight International