Alenia Aeronautica,
An important step for the Eurofighter Typhoon, the main European industrial collaborative programme: Alenia Aeronautica, a Finmeccanica company, has officially delivered to the Italian Air Force the first Tranche 2 Eurofighter Typhoon produced in Italy.
The aircraft – IS020 – taken in charge by Maj. Marco Bertoli, deputy-commander of the IX group of the 4th Wing of ItAF’s Grosseto base, is the first of a series of 47 enhanced-standard fighters which will be delivered to the Italian Air Force by 2013, as planned by the contract signed in 2004 by the Eurofighter consortium with the four-nation agency NETMA.
The Eurofighter consortium, through its partner industries (Alenia Aeronautica, BAE Systems, EADS CASA and EADS Deutschland), will produce and deliver, in the next 5 years, a total of 323 Tranche 2 Typhoons (including 72 aircraft for Saudi Arabia) to be added to the Tranche 1 Typhoons already delivered.
The Typhoon is today the most advanced defence aircraft available on the market and Tranche 2 planes, as compared to the previous standard, offer the aircraft, in addition to some structural changes, an enhanced software capacity and a substantial growth capability to take in all future developments.
“Delivery of the first Tranche 2 Eurofighter Typhoon – said Col. Carlo Uberti, Director of the Ufficio Tecnico Territoriale Aeromobili of the Direzione Generale Armamenti Aeronautici – represents for the Italian Air Force a further meaningful step forward since it allows it to use new operational capabilities placing it in the vanguard within NATO. The Typhoon permits to accomplish always at best and with the best results our Nation’s air defence tasks”.
“This important result that rewards the efforts of Alenia, of the other Finmeccanica companies involved and of our consortium partners –said Giancarlo Anselmino, Senior Vice President, responsible for Alenia Aeronautica’s Defence Aircraft Business Unit – represents a fundamental milestone for the programme, being the reference platform to be used as basis for the current and future aircraft development, like Tranche 3, whose contract in under negotiation, and to pursue any possible export opportunity”.
With 620 Typhoons under contract for the programme’s four partner nations (Germany, Italy, United Kingdom and Spain), plus the 15 ordered by Austria and the 72 for Saudi Arabia, the Eurofighter programme can be considered the best ever technological and industrial success in the new-generation defence aircraft area.
The Eurofighter Typhoon is a fundamental programme for the Italian aeronautical industry, which participates directly with 19% share of the programme, and particularly for the Finmeccanica companies which, with their 36% industrial participation, play an important role in the definition, design, development of the new airplane, frontier of the European industry’s technology.
The Eurofighter Typhoon represents for the European aerospace industry a technological and job boost able to offer great development opportunities to the partners, assuring capability, good cost/effectiveness and global competitiveness.
Currently, over 100.000 persons in the four partner nations, of which 24.000 in Italy, are involved in the programme.
Alenia Aeronautica, a Finmeccanica Company, is the largest Italian aeronautic player which operates world-wide in the commercial and military aviation, unmanned aerial vehicles and aerostructures. With its joint ventures ATR and SuperJet International, Alenia Aeronautica is the world leader in the regional turboprop market and a top player in the regional jet sector. In 2007, Alenia Aeronautica reported revenues of 2,306 million Euros, backlog for 8,248 million Euros and orders for 3,104 million. The total workforce is 13.301.
