Briefing journalists at the Farnborough International Airshow (FIA) on 23 July 20242, Eurofighter CEO Giancarlo Mezzanatto stood by his prediction at the Paris Air Show in June 2023 that the consortium will sell 150 to 200 new Eurofighters over the following two years.
Mezzanatto noted that since his prediction in Paris Eurofighter has already accumulated firm orders for 69 new aircraft from the consortium’s partner nations alone: Spain launched its Halcon II follow-on buy of 25 aircraft in September 2023; Germany announced an order for 20 more aircraft at the ILA Berlin Airshow on 5 June 2024; and Italy announced on 8 July 2024 that it would acquire an additional 24 Eurofighters to replace its Tranche 1 aircraft.
Beyond the Eurofighter partner nation of the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain and Italy, additional sales of potentially 48 Eurofighters to Saudi Arabia were opened up on 7 January 2024 when German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock announced that Germany would lift its embargo on more aircraft being sold to Riyadh. Mezzanatto noted that he had also received strong interest in a Eurofighter acquisition from Turkey, which he said could involve around 40 to 50 aircraft, although such a sale is currently also being blocked by Germany, apparently due to concerns over Turkey’s natural gas drilling activities in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Eurofighter also has an active campaign in Poland, which Mezzanatto said has a requirement for 32 aircraft. “If they if they decide to choose and to support a European programme, they definitely want to be part of it in some way,” he added, “so we are trying to understand which way is the best for them, and this is definitely something that is different from what the US can offer.”
Mezzanatto noted that, notwithstanding any “luck” that may have come his way since being appointed as the Eurofighter CEO on 1 May 2023, there were four main reasons for Eurofighter’s strong sales outlook.
“First of all I would say is the operational role that the Typhoon is currently playing in the different scenarios,” he explained. “The second one is the fact that we have a clear capability development plan and this is, of course, crucial is for the customers’ trust: the ability of the programme to stay operationally effective until 2060. The third one, which is more maybe a political one, but I would say is the compelling need to sustain the defence industry of the core nations in the current geopolitical scenario, and this is something that we cannot neglect, of course. And the fourth one, I would say, is the economic impact of the Eurofighter programme for the four nations.”
Regarding the operational role of the Typhoon, Mezzanatto said, “I think it is clear for many operators that the Typhoon is making the difference from the operational point of view. It is and will continue to be for the years to come the central pillar of European airpower. More than 80% of the partner nations’ operational missions during the past two years have been carried out by this platform. This is a fact, and this is quite outstanding.”
Mezzanatto said this was because of the importance of the aircraft’s air superiority role, which he said represents a “fundamental and strong deterrence factor” that “is clearly evident in the role that Typhoon is playing in air policing and quick-reaction missions on the eastern flank of NATO … in the Baltic countries, in Romania, in Poland”. He also noted the combat missions Typhoons are performing in the Middle East, most recently in striking Houthi targets in Yemen to defend international shipping in the Red Sea.
Regarding the Eurofighter’s capability roadmap, Mezzanatto stated, “Because these these aircraft will stay in service until 2060, it is important to have a clear capability roadmap, and we have it, and this includes the current and the future upgrades of the aircraft.” Mezzanatto noted that the contract for the system definition phase of the Eurofighter’s Phase 4 Enhancement (P4E) package has been signed by the Eurofighter consortium and the NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency. This occurred on 5 June 2024 and covers the integration of weapons, sensors and electronic warfare capabilities. He also referred to the aircraft’s Long Term Evolution (LTE) package, launched in 2019, which he said would bring “a lot of capacity to manage more data more quickly and will allow us to fully exploit all the new capabilities needed”. Mezzanatto said he was “very positive that we will launch the Long Term Evolution technology maturation phase for the Typhoon … before the end of the year”.
On sustaining the defence industry of the core nations, Mezzanatto stated, “The steep increase of the global threats and security challenges and the return of high-intensity conventional warfare in Europe are all strong factors to increase European defence readiness and these can be only achieved through a responsive and resilient European defence industry.” He noted that during the past three years 80% of European defence acquisitions were made outside Europe, with 63% made in the United States. “If we want to avoid and to prevent any over-reliance on US technology in Europe, we need to revert this trend; I think a lot of politicians in Europe are saying the same thing,” said Mezzanatto, emphasising that the technology and industrial assets created by the Eurofighter programme “are a solid baseline for our defence capability” and an “important bridge” to a sixth-generation combat capability.
In relation to the economic impact of the Eurofighter programme, Mezzanatto referred to studies by the consultancy firm Price Waterhouse Cooper and Oxford University, which he said suggested that over the next decade the Eurofighter programme would bestow upon the consortium nations a EUR 58 billion contribution to GDP, tax revenues of EUR 14 billion and would sustain more than 62,000 jobs.
He added, however, that if the Eurofighter sales he is predicting materialise in 2024 and the beginning of 2025, “we are talking about the potential contributions to GDP of EUR 90 billion”, along with tax revenues of EUR 22 billion for the four countries and the sustainment of 98,000 jobs.
“This is a programme with 20 years of operational life, but I think it’s also a programme with a great future,” Mezzanatto concluded.
A total of 680 Eurofighters have so far been ordered over the duration of the programme, with nine countries operating the type: the four Eurofighter nations plus Austria, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.