Aviation Week & Space Technology
October 3, 2005
Pg. 39 Vol. 163 No. 13
EUrofighter Pitch;
Typhoon partners position to leverage Turkish interest in EU integration
Andy Nativi; Douglas Barrie, Robert Wall
Turkey is being offered full partnership in the Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft program.
With a Greek deal to purchase the Typhoon near moribund, Eurofighter is turning its attention to Athens' Aegean neighbor as it seeks export sales. Greece is expected to compete its fighter requirement once again; Typhoon had been provisionally selected. The likely re-bid is partly caused by funding problems with the original procurement.
Irrespective of Ankara's recent $1.1-billion investment in a Lockheed Martin F-16 upgrade program--and Turkey's interest in the F-35--industry executives involved with the Typhoon believe there is an opportunity for the aircraft. The tactic is to position the Typhoon as a complement, rather than a competitor, to the Joint Strike Fighter. Some Eurofighter partner nations (Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain) are being increasingly vocal in their support of Turkey's ambitions to join the European Union (EU). Last week, Jack Straw, Britain's foreign secretary, reiterated his support for Turkey's accession to the EU. Talks on the matter begin this week.
PARTICIPATION IN the program would give Turkey not only substantial manufacturing work, but also provide Turkish industry the opportunity to take part in possible further development of the aircraft. In addition to the technology transfer, Turkey would be given source-code software for the Typhoon's avionics and combat systems. This will allow the Turkish air force to customize the aircraft without recourse to the manufacturer--a long-standing issue regarding U.S. platforms.
A Turkish final assembly line, however, is seen by Eurofighter executives as unlikely, but would ultimately depend on how many aircraft are to be acquired.
The Eurofighter campaign in Turkey, being led by Alenia Aeronautica, is not being pursued as a direct attack on the F-35, but instead is supporting the rationale for a combination of both types.
Turkey is a Level III partner in the JSF program, and has a requirement for at least 120 F-35s, worth around $4 billion. At the same time, the air force's combat fleet is 450-strong, including more than 120 F-4/RF-4 Phantom IIs, half of which have been modernized by Israel Aircraft Industries. Alenia is pitching the Typhoon as a candidate to replace the F-4, and part of the F-16 fleet.
Eurofighter partners Britain and Italy already intend to field the F-35 and the Typhoon. For Italy, the primary role for the F-35 will be strike, with the Typhoon as an air dominance platform. Both, however, will be capable in either role.
Two Typhoon aircraft were on display at the International Defense Industry Fair held in Ankara Sept. 27-30. Senior military officers and politicians from the partner nations were also in attendance, including Italian Defense Minister Antonio Martino.
Turkish air force pilots have already flown the Typhoon, while visiting the Italian air force's Grosseto base. The baseline aircraft for Turkey is presently the Typhoon Tranche 2 Batch 8 aircraft. Funding procurement is not viewed as a hurdle. Ankara, after a prolonged period of curtailing defense spending, is now looking at military expenditure in part as a tool to model industrial development and growth. Turkey is spending about 3.3% of its gross domestic product on defense.
However, the Eurofighter partner nations continue to be hampered in the export arena by a still undefined weapons integration package for the core program.
The overarching Typhoon road map is now known as the Future Capability Program (FCP). The two key elements of this within the Tranche 2 production run were known as Enhanced Operational Capabilities 1 and 2, and have been renamed Enhancement Phases 1 and 2 (EP1 and EP2). Negotiations between the four partner nations are ongoing to finalize the air-to-air and air-to-surface weapons packages and integration priorities for EP1 and EP2. The aim is to have these decided by the year's end, and
contracted for by mid-2006. But progress is proving to be even slower than anticipated, and could result in target dates having to be realigned.
While the full air-to-surface package for Tranche 2 has yet to be agreed, at least one of the partner nations is pushing ahead with introduction of a ground attack capability. Britain is purchasing a batch of 20 Rafael Litening III laser designator pods for the Typhoon.
Robert Wall contributed to this report from Munich.
