Eurofighter
LE BOURGET—Airbus Defense is warning of possible delays to a much-anticipated order for more Eurofighter Typhoons by Spain as a result of an upcoming general election, though the company’s boss says he does not expect Madrid’s intent to change.
Spanish Air Force Chief General Javier Salto Martinez-Avial said in May that his top priority is getting parliamentary approval for an additional 25 Eurofighters. Speaking at the Paris Air Show here on June 20, Jean-Brice Dumont, the head of Airbus Military Air Systems, said next month’s general elections in Spain may affect this timeline.
“As much as I live in Spain, I cannot predict it,” he says. “What is sure is that the change of power of a government in a country generally causes a moment of latency. So I think the Spanish intention and the Spanish need will not change.”
The Spanish order would be part of the Halcon 2 modernization program, following an order of 20 Tranche 4 aircraft to replace older-model McDonnell-Douglas F/A-18A/Bs.
Dumont says Airbus in the near-term is focusing on contracts for its Phase 4 Enhancements and also on technology maturation for the follow-on Long-Term Evolution (LTE) modernization program. The latter is a “generational change” for the Eurofighter, Dumont said.
P4E will be the focus of Germany’s plan to replace the Panavia Tornado ECR aircraft, with integration of a Saab Arexis electronic warfare suite for suppression and destruction of enemy air defenses. Airbus is also defining how many LTE aircraft would be offered to Germany and other nations in the consortium, Dumont says.
Dumont spoke one day after Belgium announced that it would be an observer in the Future Combat Air System, which Airbus is participating in as a prime. He says he welcomes this decision because “it’s a European program and we’re talking about European sovereignty, so having more European companies on the principle is good news.”
