Eurofighter offers Turkey $9 billion local workshare

The Eurofighter consortium, maker of the Eurofighter Typhoon fighter aircraft, has raised the stakes in its competition with the U.S.-led Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) group to sell over 100 jets to the Turkish Air Force by offering a $9 billion local work share for Turkey's defense industry.

The four-nation Eurofighter group is proposing to Turkey an “equal partnership with equal voting rights as other member nations have” and a $9 billion work share for its local defense industry if the Ankara government decides to buy 120 fighters, $6 billion work share for 80 aircraft and $3.2 billion work share for 40 aircraft.

The group has pledged to deliver the first batch of aircraft by 2010. It has also offered Turkey access to source codes and other critical technology, an enhancement package, full access to repair capabilities for the aircraft and the authority to use the aircraft anywhere, any time in line with Turkish military doctrine.

Eurofighter officials told the Turkish Daily News that the consortium was offering Turkey a next generation, twin-engine aircraft at the price of an F-16 fighter plus a nearly $2.5 billion industrial participation deal for a batch of 30 aircraft. Recently, the U.S. Congress paved the way for the sale of 30 F-16 jets to Turkey in a $2.9 billion deal “if all options are exercised.” The deal, structured as a direct sale through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, entails no industrial participation.

Eurofighter says the Typhoon is fully compatible with the JSF's F-35. “The Typhoon is the best selling air dominance fighter and the JSF is the best selling ground support fighter,” company officials said. “With the JSF and the F-16, Turkey will have a next generation ground support aircraft and an old generation air superiority fighter not capable of countering the potential threat arising in the next 10, 20 and 30 years. Turkey needs a next generation double platform solution for its future air requirements.”

Turkey's military and procurement officials earlier signaled that they would probably go for the F-16 as a stop-gap solution and the F-35 for longer-term requirements. Turkey is a partner in the JSF program's development phase, having invested $175 million in the task. It must decide whether it will join the program's production phase by the end of the year. Turkey will spend an estimated $12 billion to renew its fighter aircraft fleet.

Eurofighter has contracted 620 aircraft to its member states (Germany, Italy, Spain and Britain), plus 18 aircraft to Austria. Most recently the Typhoon was selected by the Royal Saudi Air Force for a deal involving 72 aircraft. In addition to Turkey, Greece, Japan, Switzerland, Denmark and Norway have been considering purchasing the Typhoon.

According to Professor Keith Hartley from the Center for Defense Economics at the University of York, the Eurofighter Typhoon offers a variety of benefits including independence from U.S.-made fighter aircraft and equipment standardization among the partner nations.

ANKARA – TDN Defense Desk LINK