Eurofighter Jagdplane GmbH's new CEO, Giancarlo Mezzanatto, is optimistic about prospects for new aircraft sales, he stressed during a press conference at the Paris Air Show on June 21. The manager, who took up his new post on May 1, told journalists he sees the possibility of selling an additional 150 to 200 new Eurofighters over the next two years, stressing that the company is "much more optimistic than it was some years ago years".
The situation in Ukraine and Russia's invasion of the sovereign country in February 2022 "had a huge impact," according to Mezzanatto, who pointed out that the Ukraine war has prompted a number of countries to upgrade their armed forces' capabilities and attitudes towards arms exports rethink. Most importantly, Mezzanatto implied that Germany's refusal to grant export licenses for further Eurofighter sales to Saudi Arabia (a stance expressed in light of the assassination of US-Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018 and Riyadh's involvement in the Yemen war) could be eased in the face of the Ukraine conflict, adding that "the UK is very active as the lead nation for Saudi Arabia [in terms of Eurofighter exports]".
A future Eurofighter order for Saudi Arabia, which currently operates 72 aircraft of this type, could be significant, involving at least 48 and possibly as many as 72 aircraft.
Another order for 15 Eurofighters could be placed in the form of electronic warfare (EW) machines for Germany. In Germany, these aircraft are referred to as EK Eurofighter. Eurofighter hopes that these EK aircraft will be new machines in preparation for Tranche 4, although it is still possible that Germany will decide to remove these aircraft from the Quadriga project order, which will allow for the acquisition of 38 Eurofighters and was signed in November 2020.
Ahead of the Paris Air Show, Saab's Araxis EW system was declared the preferred offering for the Eurofighter EK variant, but there is no contract yet and Saab has been tight-lipped about what Araxis solution the Eurofighter would receive; the system can either be integrated into the aircraft or delivered in the form of a mission-ready pod.
Meanwhile, Eurofighter expects Spain to soon order 25 new aircraft as part of its Halcon II project. The project is intended to replace the EF-18 Hornets operated by the Spanish Air Force at bases in Torrejon and Zaragoza.
"Spain has an urgent need to replace its Hornets," Mezzanatto said, while noting that the signing of the Halcon II treaty could be delayed - or even brought forward - by Spain's general election in July.
Interessanterweise sagte Mezzanatto auch: „Ich denke, dass Polen für den Eurofighter eine sehr gute Gelegenheit bietet“. Er verwies auf die Tatsache, dass die polnische Luftwaffe den Eurofighter durch den Einsatz des Typs auf dem Luftwaffenstützpunkt Malbork in Polen im Rahmen der NATO-Mission „Enhanced Air Policing“ (eAP) in der baltischen Region kennen gelernt hat. Die italienischen Luftstreitkräfte entsenden ab August 2022 vier Eurofighter für vier Monate nach Malbork, nachdem sie am 1. Juli 2022 einen siebenmonatigen Einsatz von Eurofightern in Rumänien abgeschlossen haben (der aufgrund des russischen Einmarsches in der Ukraine um vier Monate verlängert wurde).
Mezzanatto's optimism about a Eurofighter sale to Poland is surprising as Poland has already decided to procure the F-35, of which it ordered 32 in 2020. In addition, Poland has ordered 48 KAI FA-50 light attack aircraft in 2022.
Finally, Mezzanatto also referred to Turkey, where the UK is running a sales campaign for the Eurofighter. Turkey was banned from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program in 2019 for buying Russia's S-400 air defense system, and while Turkish Aerospace is developing the domestic next-generation Kaan fighter, the prototype has yet to fly.
Regarding his goals for the Eurofighter as a company, Mezzanatto said he wants to meet the Eurofighter capability roadmap to keep the aircraft operational by 2060; be ready to support and ramp up production when additional sales are secured; support customer readiness; and continue to drive the strength of the Eurofighter procurement model.
Beyond these goals, however, Mezzanatto also wants to streamline and harmonize the modernization of the various national Eurofighter fleets. "One of my goals is to match our customers' configurations as much as possible," he said.
This will be quite a challenge considering how different the desires and budgets of each country are.
Peter Felsted
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