Typhoon sales soon? Eastern Typhoon?

Germany sees deal on Eurofighter in days
Tue Mar 31, 2009 5:03pm EDT

BERLIN, March 31 (Reuters) – German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung said on Tuesday he expects an agreement in the next few days on the planned purchase of a third tranche of Eurofighter jets.

Germany, Britain, Italy and Spain are in negotiations with European plane maker EADS (EAD.PA) about the third and final delivery of the fighter jets.

The countries want to buy only about 45 percent of the planned third tranche initially, which would mean delivery of 107 of the originally envisaged 236 jets to start with.

The countries have been urging EADS to cut the price for the new delivery.

Germany’s parliament will have to approve the purchase.

The Eurofighter consortium includes Britain’s BAE Systems Plc (BAES.L), Airbus parent EADS (EAD.PA) and Alenia, a unit of Italy’s Finmeccanica SpA (SIFI.MI). The aircraft engines are made by Rolls Royce Group Plc (RR.L), MTU Aero Engines Holdings AG (MTXGn.DE) and ITP. Jung also demanded a deal on the disputed A400M military transporter aircraft, saying the countries that planned to buy it were entitled to cancel it and their decision was still open.

All countries in the consortium agreed abandoning the project was a realistic possibility, he said. Europe’s biggest military project has become the subject of a dispute due to long delays.

Alternatives to the A400M included the Antonov or Boeing’s C-17 Globemaster, said Jung. (Reporting by Sabine Siebold, writing by Madeline Chambers; Editing by Andre Grenon)
—————–
and on related news..

Avione Craiova, PZL Mielec and Aero Vodochody to develop “Eastern Eurofighter”

Defense Daily , Mar 31, 2009 by Matthew Johnson

* Email
* Print

Avioane Craiova SA, PZL Mielec, Aero Vodochody and the Romanian and Czech governments signed a memorandum to jointly develop an advanced trainer/light attack jet by 2015 the company said.

The proposed jet aircraft, will serve as an advanced training aircraft and a light attack plane intended to replace the ageing IAR-99 Soim, and Lancer fighter jets in Romanian service and the TS-11 Iskra and Soviet era MiG-29 and Su-25 in the Polish Air Force. The Czech government has yet to sign the memorandum. However Aero Vodochody has stated that the new light jet fighter could be a viable supplement to the current L.159 programme. The Romanian and Czech government is pitching in 50 percent of the approximately €1.3 billion budgeted for the program. The industry teams will pay the rest.

In its trainer role, the new light trainer jet will prepare pilots to fly next generation strike aircraft such as the Eurofighter Typhoon, Saab Gripen, and Lockheed F-35 which is being proposed to these air forces as a replacement for its obsolete Soviet-era fighter aircraft.

The EuroJet Turbo GmbH Consortium has been approached as a possible source for powerplants for the new aircraft.

PZL Mielec sees the new aircraft as having export potential to countries looking to replace older light attack jet planes that could also function as an advance trainer. They believe the range of this market is between 200-300 aircraft.

“The market in Eastern Europe has high potentials because most air forces in the region will soon require replacements of their trainer aircraft. Most air forces have no choice but to participate in training programmes abroad” said Maria Unga, spokeswoman of Avioane Craiova.

The new fighter will weigh at 7,000kg and attain top speeds of Mach 1.5. First flight is set for late 2015.
addition to its work as the electronic warfare team integrator, it will play a role in the integrated core processor (ICP) team.

COPYRIGHT 2009 Access Intelligence, LLC

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSLV6952420090331