Some more speculation on the German orders. Quadriga for 38 aircraft is under contract, EK appears to be moving forward with an initial 15 aircraft refitted and then new build following. Beyond that was the potential order for 'up to 50' Typhoon Tranche 5. To be honest its hard to see the Typhoon LTE as it currently stands proceeding if this approach was adopted.
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Article from Hartpunkt - Translated by Google Translate
The Eurofighter manufacturer Airbus Defense and Space (ADS) has been warning for some time about the disruption of the supply chain if the Bundeswehr does not decide to order more fighter aircraft of this type. There is a risk that in such a case, highly qualified jobs and the expertise to build fighter jets will also be lost.
Most recently, in an interview with the news magazine “Der Spiegel”, ADS boss Michael Schöllhorn called for a reliable commitment from the federal government to order around another 50 Eurofighters in a tranche 5 before the federal election. The machines are intended to replace the remaining Tornados, which will be phased out by the end of this decade.
In addition to a procurement of the required size, there is apparently another option currently being discussed: the purchase of a significantly smaller tranche 5 with a size of at least 20 machines, essentially a tranche 4+. In terms of technology, the new aircraft would essentially correspond to Tranche 4 with 38 aircraft, also known as Project Quadriga, which is currently in production.
Development of the Long Term Evolution (LTE) aircraft configuration, which was actually planned for the 5th installment, will probably not be possible until Quadriga's expected end of production in 2030. After that, the production of the new aircraft would have to continue seamlessly in order to avoid friction.
In fact, preparations are currently underway in the Ministry of Defense to commission a tranche 4+ during this legislative period, according to well-informed circles in the Bundestag. It is said that the BMVg is aware of the problem.
What will be crucial, however, will be finding the money for the additional machines. Insiders assume that at least 3 billion euros will be incurred as part of an overall package for a new batch of Eurofighters. The finance minister would have to be creative here, because there should be no corresponding provisions in either individual plan 14 or the Bundeswehr special fund.
If an order is actually placed, another question arises: Will there still be money available to develop LTE for the 20 or 30 Eurofighters that have not yet been ordered or are there other approaches? Until now, the plan was to roll out LTE with Tranche 5 and then retrofit the aircraft in the earlier tranches with it.
Today, another project to further develop the Eurofighter was on the agenda of the Defense and Budget Committee. The conclusion of a contract with a volume of more than 25 million euros for the development project program Eurofighter – “P4E System Definition” (P4E SD), which is financed from the Bundeswehr special fund. At the time of going to press, the Defense Committee had already given the green light to the proposal.
Lars Hoffmann