Cost Concerns Delay Eurofighter Talks

Robert Wall/Paris wall@aviationweek.com

Government officials are looking for "significant" lifecycle cost reductions for the Eurofighter Typhoon and have delayed further talks on Tranche 3 production to give industry a chance to respond.

The German defense ministry says talks about the procurement of the next batch of 236 Typhoons have been postponed until the end of the month. That decision was made March 12 during a meeting of state secretaries for defense from Germany, the U.K., Italy and Spain.

The government officials told NETMA, the NATO agency in charge of Typhoon production, to convene with industry to find ways to reduce costs.

On the basis of those discussions, the government representatives will reconvene around the end of March to decide whether to proceed with Tranche 3 production, which is being split into two phases. The so called Tranche 3A phase would cover about 107 aircraft, the German defense ministry says, or 45 percent of the total Tranche 3 buy.

Industry officials have indicated they need a commitment from government soon on the way forward to order long-lead items and avoid production stops at suppliers. A contract isn't necessarily immediately required.

Photo credit: Arpingstone via Wikipedia