CEO Giancarlo Mezzanatto makes official announcement

Eurofighter CEO Giancarlo Mezzanatto met with journalists at the Farnborough International Airshow (FIA) held in the UK.

Mezzanatto stated that he still stands by the "150-200 aircraft sales" target he set in June 2023, and that despite having received 69 orders so far, they will reach the determined figure. He also announced that Turkey has an interest in the Eurofighter, but the sale has been blocked by Germany.

ANKARA WANTED TO BUY 40-50 AIRCRAFT

The multinational consortium, founded by the UK, Germany, Spain, and Italy, most recently completed sales of 25 aircraft to Madrid, 20 aircraft to Berlin, and 24 aircraft to Rome in September 2023.

Since then, one of the potential buyers has been Turkey, which was removed from the F-35 program. Mezzanatto stated that Ankara wanted to purchase between 40 and 50 aircraft, but these attempts were blocked by Germany.

The Italian CEO emphasized that such a blockage might have been implemented due to Turkey's drilling activities as part of its natural gas exploration efforts in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Finally, he announced that significant progress has been made toward the sale of 48 aircraft following Germany's lifting of the embargo it had imposed on Saudi Arabia, and that Poland also has a need for 32 fighter jets.

Giancarlo Mezzanatto, who was appointed as CEO on May 1, 2023, said that behind the "strong sales successes" and "goals" are the facts that "the Eurofighter can be used operationally in many different scenarios," "there are capability development plans and they prioritize customer trust," and that although it is more of a "political issue," there is "a necessity for core nations to maintain their defense industry in the current geopolitical scenario."

The Eurofighter, which made its first flight on March 27, 1994, is also used by Austria, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, in addition to the consortium members that produce it.

In 2019, following the US's "failure to provide a positive response to the Patriot request" against the ballistic missile threat, Turkey purchased two battalions of S-400s from Russia, paying 2 billion 500 million dollars (82 billion 460 million Turkish Liras).

The S-400s, which can hit targets in a wide range from 40 kilometers up to 400 kilometers, can be used against fighter jets, radar detection and control aircraft, reconnaissance aircraft, strategic and tactical aircraft, tactical and operational-tactical ballistic missiles, medium-range ballistic missiles, and hypersonic targets.

However, this purchase caused some "security concerns" within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and among the countries involved in the program where F-35 production takes place. As a result, it was announced on July 17, 2019, that Turkey had been removed from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program.

News Source: 12punto