22 Sep 2015 08:44
(UTC)
Source:
Arabianaerospace
Manufacturer
Kuwait signs for supply of 28 Eurofighter Typhoons
The State of Kuwait has become the newest member of the Eurofighter Typhoon community, signing an MoU for 28 of the fighters, worth up to €8bn.
Kuwait has signed an agreement with Eurofighter partner Italy (Finmeccania SpA, through its subsidiary Alenia Aermacchi), to buy 28 Eurofighter Typhoons - with training, weapons and support - at a cost of up to €8 billion. It is the first time the Eurofighter Typhoon has secured an order in open competition.
It follows an order from the Sultanate of Oman for 12 aircraft in December 2012 and it is a further evidence of growing interest in the Eurofighter Typhoon across the globe and in the Gulf Region in particular, with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Sultanate of Oman who have already ordered this combat aircraft.
On behalf of the consortium and its Eurofighter Partner Companies (EPC) the CEO of Eurofighter, Alberto Gutierrez, said: “This new agreement is the confirmation of the superiority of the Eurofighter over its competitors and will provide a great opportunity for further Eurofighter orders. We are delighted to welcome Kuwait as the newest member of our Eurofighter Typhoon family. The Eurofighter is already proven and trusted by six nations to perform in all operational environments.”
With Kuwait, the Eurofighter Typhoon confirms its role as Europe’s largest military collaborative programme with a total of 599 aircraft committed. The Eurofighter group is an Anglo-German-Spanish-Italian project, joint-owned by BAE Systems (UK, 33%), Airbus (Germany and Spain, 46%) and Finmeccanica (Italy, 21%).
Since entry into service of the first Eurofighter Typhoon at the end of 2003, 444 aircraft have been delivered to six nations: Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Austria and Saudi Arabia.
In December 2012, Oman became the seventh customer and ordered a total of twelve aircraft. Eurofighter Typhoon is currently in service at 22 operational units and up to now, the whole fleet has completed more than 300,000 flying hours worldwide.