Political Squabbling in Canada Over Proposed F-35 Purchase Prompts Eurofighter To Launch PR Campaign

Ottawa Citizen ^ | Jan 25 2011 | David Pugliese

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Political Squabbling in Canada Over Proposed F-35 Purchase Prompts Eurofighter To Launch PR Campaign for Typhoon

By Dave Pugliese Tue, Jan 25 2011

Defence Watch

Bill Sweetman has some discussion in the latest issue of Defense Technology International about Eurofighter starting a low-key campaign in Canada to promote its Typhoon. According to Mr. Sweetman, the firm sees the ongoing political squabbling about the Joint Strike Fighter procurement as a potential opening for its fighter aircraft.

Lately the Eurofighter PR machine has been pumping out the information.

On Tuesday the Eurofighter consortium announced that the operational fleet of Typhoons (in service since the second half of 2003) achieved the milestone of 100,000 flying hours.

The Eurofighter Typhoon has been ordered by six nations (Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, Austria and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia). The program has 707 aircraft under contract. Of that the Eurofighter main nations of Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom have ordered 620 aircraft. So far, 250 have been delivered to date. Austria has purchased and taken delivery of 15 aircraft, while Saudi Arabia has purchased 72 aircraft.

The 100,000 hours were achieved flying the Typhoons in the bitter cold weather of the Baltic Sea, in the temperate climate of the Tyrrhenian Coast, in the torrid heat of the Arabic Peninsula and over the rough South Atlantic Sea, according to the consortium’s press release. (Note the emphasis on extreme climate conditions)

Eurofighter executives are pushing for a competition on the Canadian scene, arguing that their aircraft can meet the requirements that the Canadian Air Force has put out into the public domain.

You may recall they made their pitch to .

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