Eurofighter GmgH,
Hallbergmoos: The first Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, AS001, was delivered today to Austria. The aircraft piloted by EADS Military Air Systems Test Pilot Martin Angerer had successfully deployed to its new home base at Zeltweg, Austria.
Aloysius Rauen, CEO Eurofighter GmbH, commented: “The Eurofighter consortium is extremely pleased at having delivered the first of 15 aircraft for Austria and is looking forward to delivering according to schedule over the next two years. The consortium is convinced that the Austrian Air Force now has the best equipment available worldwide to safeguard the Nation’s airspace. Air Forces in five Nations now operate the Eurofighter Typhoon, confirming the Market Leader position of the Eurofighter programme.”
Austria will receive 15 aircraft. The first flight of AS002 took place at EADS Military Air Systems at Manching on 09 July 2007, while aircraft AS003 through AS006 are in the final assembly procedure at EADS in Manching.
AS001 is the 125th Eurofighter Typhoon to be delivered to the now five customer Air Forces in Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Austria. The Nations’ fleets have accumulated over 21,700 flight hours by the end of June 2007, in addition to 5,200 hours flown by the industry test aircraft.
With delivery of GS025 on 04 July 2007 and now AS001, all five Nations now operate aircraft with the latest Block 5 capability standard. All earlier delivered aircraft will be upgraded to the Block 5 standard under the Retrofit R2 programme, with 16 aircraft currently undergoing this modification process.
