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PARIS - Eurofighter boss Enzo Casolini said he remains confident the deal to build the third and final tranche of Typhoon combat aircraft will be finalized by the four partner nations before summer break in Europe.
Speaking to reporters June 17 at the Paris Air Show, the Eurofighter CEO said more than 100,000 jobs and 400 companies spread across the region depended on the program that produces jets for Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain.
Eurofighter and its parent companies are anxious to get the deal done in time for the German Parliament to approve the details.
With Germany facing a September general election, failure to get the OK from the German parliament in the next few weeks could spell a lengthy delay and a costly closure of the production line when Tranche 2 deliveries come to an end.
Agreement on a Tranche 3 deal had been delayed for months while the U.K. dragged its feet over whether to back out of Tranche 3 to help meet a serious defense spending shortfall in the next few years. Britain signaled its intention to go ahead with buying Tranche 3 jets in May in a deal that will see the partners split the 236 aircraft they agreed to purchase into two parts, in order to ease budget pressures.
Britain's agreement to go ahead with deal was conditional on reductions to production and support cost. Those issues have been resolved.
A batch of aircraft known as Tranche 3A would see Britain take 40 aircraft, Germany 30, Italy 21 and Spain 21.
A second batch, Tranche 3B, is planned to be ordered in two years. Some industry executives and analysts wonder whether the full 3B deal will happen. Casolini said he wouldn't answer any questions about the challenges of getting 3B under contract until the 3A was signed for.
The Eurofighter boss said industry is offering to cut through life support costs in half as part of the Tranche 3 package.
He said he didn't want to go into detail at this stage but indicated that with a new partnering agreement between industry and the air forces covering spare parts maintenance and other issues, he believed a 50 percent reduction is achievable.
Eurofighter officials say the prices agreed with governments for the 3A purchases are based on economies of scale resulting from the entire Tranche 3 production run.
Earlier this month, Britain finally agreed to sign the deal but only after it had secured what appears to amount to a cut in the aircraft it is due to take.
Part of the concessions to the British to keep them in the program included allowing part of a 2007 export order secured with Saudi Arabia for 72 Typhoons to be counted in Britain's 3A commitment.
The British would take 16 airframes and a further 24 to replace the Tranche 2 aircraft destined for the Royal Air Force but diverted to Saudi Arabia.
The first of 24 British-made, Saudi-bound aircraft was handed over by BAE last week. The remainder of the 72 aircraft are planned to be assembled in Saudi Arabia. The original plan was to tack 24 replacement fighters on to the end of the British order for 89 Tranche 2 aircraft.
On the question of whether Typhoon would get Tranche 3 aircraft with an active electronically scanned array radar, Casolini said a risk-reduction phase study on a new sensor was under way with a decision on whether to go ahead being taken by the end of the year.
Casolini said e-scan was an important asset for the prospects of Typhoon in the export market, but that not all Eurofighter nations were in agreement on when to proceed with the development.
The possible retrofitting of the radar capability at a later date would make the situation easier for some nations, he said.
Parallel talks on key technology updates also are under way, and Casolini said a decision on the possible inclusion of an AESA radar on Tranche 3 aircraft could be made in conjunction with partner nations Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain by the end of the year.
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