A final assembly facility for the world’s most versatile and reliable fast-jet fighter could be built in Indonesia it has been re-confirmed this week – if the Nation chooses to opt for the Eurofighter Typhoon and the chance to develop its own indigenous capability.
As Indonesia plans the replacement of its existing fighter-jet fleet, delegates from Eurofighter arrived in Jakarta over the weekend to begin a series of demonstrations aimed at underlining the full scope of the offer from the four-nation consortium. Central to the unique offer from Eurofighter is the fact the Country already has a strong and productive relationship with one of its Partner Companies, Airbus – makers of a wide range of military and commercial products.
Joe Parker, Export Director for Eurofighter GmbH, based in Munich, Germany, said: “We recognise that Indonesia has important decisions to make, and that those decisions will leave a lasting legacy. What we bring to Indonesia is not just reliable protection for the Nation, but the opportunity to build and maintain a genuine indigenous capability on the back of a proven partnership and all that goes with it.”
Parker, himself a private pilot, and a passionate advocate of Typhoon, added: “Rapidly deployable and reliable maritime protection is a fundamental requirement for this nation of islands and no other aircraft of this type can fly longer, faster and higher than ours when fully-loaded. Add this to the fact that we would be able to facilitate assembly line capabilities into Bandung enabling the aircraft to be built here in Indonesia by Indonesians and it is easy to see why we believe this a major opportunity making the Indonesian Archipelago a future hub for operations in the Southern Hemisphere.”
“We have already hosted visits to see our Spanish and German facilities,” said Parker, “and they were well received. This is an exciting time for the Eurofighter Programme which has now reached a level of maturity giving the Typhoon an unrivalled range of capabilities and a solid roadmap for the future.”
This week, for the first time, Eurofighter will be showcasing a Full Scale Exhibition Demonstrator Eurofighter Typhoon when it goes on display in a hangar at PT DI’s facilities in Bandung – the potential location for the Indonesian Eurofighter Typhoon production line.
“Transferring technology is not a problem for us,” said Parker, “It is part of our day-job. What excites me is the potential I see in Indonesia for developing huge levels of indigenous capability around this opportunity – not just those in connection with the Eurofighter Typhoon – but around the many spin-off opportunities that would be created by the generation of new skill-sets. We have seen it happen before – and we know it can happen again.”
Eurofighter confirmed that, if Indonesia opted for the Typhoon, then the opportunity would bring not just high-skilled jobs connected with the final assembly of the aircraft, but also state of the art technology and employment in association with the maintenance and further enhancement of the fast-jet fighter.
“While we are here,” said Parker, “we want to give people the chance to really get to know the aircraft and gain a full understanding of the scope of our offer. As well as a series of Master Classes aimed at getting ‘under the skin’ of a fighter, we will be giving interested parties a detailed tour of the aircraft and its capabilities led by two of our most experienced pilots – one who played a key role in the development of the Eurofighter, and the other who has extensive experience in training test pilots. It should be an exciting week.”
