BAE Systems has won a key part of a German Air Force contract worth £1.3 billion (€1.45 billion) to build 38 Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft that will keep the company's UK production lines active past 2025.
German Air Force Typhoon
German Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon EF2000 at the ILA Berlin Air Show 2016. Photo: Julian Herzog
The contract will keep critical resources for the company's facility in northern England, where components for the fighters will be produced until work commences on its next-generation fighter Tempest.
Last week, the German parliament voted in favour of acquiring the extra aircraft, which are produced by a consortium comprising BAE, Franco-German Airbus and Italy's Leonardo.
BAE will manufacture the front fuselages and tails and its plant in Warton, Lancashire, with work commencing early next year.
Germany's decision to choose the Typhoon over the newer generation F-35 from Lockheed Martin, for which BAE is a supplier “reinforces the aircraft’s position as one of the world’s most successful combat military aircraft,” in the words of BAE CEO Charles Woodburn.
Typhoon is also a large contributor to the UK economy, Woodburn added. Over 5,000 BAE employees work on the programme with another 10,000 jobs indirectly supported.
“These critical jobs are a key element of securing the UK’s sovereign skills and capabilities, which are central to realising the government’s future combat air ambitions,” said Woodburn.
The new aircraft will join Germany's existing fleet of Typhoons in the mid-2020s and will be equipped with advanced electronically scanning radar - which significantly upgrades the fighter's capabilities in hostile environments.
The combat air sector creates £6 billion (€6.69 billion) of annual revenue for the UK and comprises 87% of defence exports.
According to BAE, Typhoon exports have now returned more than twice the government's initial investment.
Updating Typhoon and keeping it relevant is crucial to the development of the advanced generation Tempest, which is scheduled to enter the service in the 2030s. New methods of manufacturing are being used on Typhoon to aid the technology. BAE engineers are using 3D printing to manufacture components, for example.
3D printing, or additive manufacturing, is also being utilised by the US Air Force for development of components that are no longer mass-produced.
Eurofighter Typhoon is in service in seven countries — Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, Austria, Oman and Saudi Arabia — with outstanding orders from Kuwait and Qatar.
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