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On the Record
Aloysius ‘Ays’ Rauen, Chief Executive Officer, Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH
A year ago at Farnborough, Ays Rauen, along with the entire Eurofighter enterprise, was being battered by questions on when the long-delayed and oft-promised Tranche 2 production deal would be secured. The great Tranche 2 siege was not lifted until the last days of December 2004, when the UK finally put its house in order and signed its name on the contract. By the beginning of 2005 Eurofighter could turn its back on years of delay and move forward with a firm deal for a total of 402 (two tranches for the four nations, plus 18 for Austria) aircraft in its pocket. Then, in February, Eurofighter’s stride was broken by the shocking news that the aircraft had been summarily disqualified from Singapore’s Next Fighter Replacement Program.
The rules of that competition force Eurofighter to say nothing about events in Singapore; however, Ays is clear on one thing: “The Singapore experience has been a wake-up call for the partners. That is why I am positive we will have an agreement on the EOC [Enhanced Operational Capability] standard by the end of the year. A process that was moving too slow has now got it together.”
The EOC standard for Eurofighter (also referred to as the Future Capability Package) will see the integration of advanced weapons such as Storm Shadow, Taurus KEPD 350, Meteor, agile dogfight missiles and other precision-guided munitions. The availability of operational capability, of lack thereof, was the trapdoor for Eurofighter in Singapore. It is now hoped that the four partner nations will abandon the leisurely schedule they have been following and start bolting some real warfighting systems onto their aircraft.
Says Rauen, “There was a time when some of the partners said, ‘Don’t bother with air-to-ground in Block 5 [the final production aircraft in Tranche 1]; we don’t want to upset the schedule.’ Now, no one disputes that they want it. The partners are also becoming more flexible when it comes to adding capabilities for export.”
Rauen is clear: “The export prospects remain tremendous, because there are no alternatives. There is nothing else out there that comes close to a Eurofighter in terms of capability and price. There is the F-22, but it gives you an 8% edge for two or three times the price. So two Eurofighters will beat an F-22 and are still cheaper. The Joint Strike Fighter is late and nobody knows what they’ll actually get. Greece, Norway, Turkey…they are not fully booked on the JSF ticket. The Gripen is in a different class. The F-16 and F-15 are nowhere. In Saudi Arabia, the deal is not done with the French. We are not nervous because of Singapore, we’re just angry about the public perception that follows from a customer schedule that was impossible.
“Look at our record in Austria. We really go for partnership. We have over-fulfilled our obligations, and ahead of schedule. This sounds good to Switzerland. We share technology, highly sensitive technology like the DASS, flight controls, sensor fusion — you will not get that from the United States.” — Robert Hewson
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