BAE wins £500m order for 20 Eurofighters from Spain
BAE SYSTEMS has won a £500m deal to help deliver 20 Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft to Spain.
The Typhoons will replace Spain’s Boeing F-18 Hornets based on the Canary Islands, and will increase the country’s stock of Typhoons to 90. The order is valued at €2bn (£1.7bn) in total.
Eurofighter jets are made by a consortium of German, UK, Spanish and Italian companies, including BAE and Airbus, which represents Germany and Spain’s interests. The programme supports 5,000 jobs at BAE and 10,000 roles at suppliers.
About a third of the new work will go to BAE, Britain’s biggest engineer by value, including making the front fuselage and tail. Much of the work will be done at BAE’S factories in Warton and Samlesbury, in the north-west of England. Andrea Thompson, a BAE executive and chairman of the Eurofighter supervisory board, said: “The Spanish government’s commitment to purchasing additional Typhoons reinforces its position as one of the world’s most successful combat military aircraft.
“Every day we are seeing the important role that it plays in delivering air security in the skies over Europe and this investment only strengthens the international partnership, which Eurofighter underpins.”
The member company that makes the order tends to finish the work and final assembly will be done at an Airbus plant in Getafe, Spain. Jets will be handed over to the Spanish Air Force from 2025. More than 600 Eurofighters have been made to date, with Germany and the UK buying about half between them. Other operators include Austria, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Kuwait.
“The fact that an existing Typhoon operator is committing to buying additional aircraft only reinforces their confidence in the aircraft and its performance,” Ms Thompson said.
Orders including a £5bn deal with Qatar in 2018 have allowed BAE to keep its production line at Warton running, retaining the UK’S ability to make its own fighter jets. Bosses at the company hope the Eurofighter work will last until a replacement for the programme is commissioned, perhaps in the shape of the Tempest, on which BAE is leading development.