Xinhua News Agency,
The Eurofighter consortium is ready to deliver 24 Typhoon aircraft to the Romanian Air Force in the 2010-2014 period, the program director for Romania Giuseppe Paoletti said on Friday at a press conference organized within the EXPOMIL 2007 show in Bucharest.
Moreover, the said consortium is willing to provide the first operational squadron of Typhoon warplanes in 2010.
The Eurofighter official underscored that Finnmecanica of Italy was interested in buying the local Craiova-based Aircraft Factory, which may offer technical support and maintenance for the Typhoon warplane.
Moreover, Giuseppe Paoletti hinted that if the program in Romania unfolded well, the plane might be assembled in the country. He added the firm might bring also other subcontractors for the offset contract that is usually signed in such cases.
According to Paoletti, the purchase price is comparable to the one of the twin-engined warplanes, but the maintenance costs are much lower than those for other models.
“These are not cheap aircraft, but a Typhoon warplane can carry out missions that, in the case of other aircraft models, require several aircraft,” explained the representative of the Eurofighter consortium.
The Eurofighter consortium presented at EXPOMIL its offer for replacing the MiG-21 LanceR fighter jets of the Romanian Air Force. According to the representatives of the consortium, Typhoon is the most important high-technology program in Europe and the main European collaboration program in defense, involving over 120,000 people.
