Article Posted on : - Feb 13, 2009

Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft with weapons at Aero India 2009 in Bangalore on Thursday. BNS photo

BANGALORE (BNS): On behalf of the Eurofighter consortium, EADS seeks to establish a long-term strategic partnership with Indian aerospace and defence companies.

Addressing a news conference here during Aero India 2009, Bernhard Gerwert, CEO of Military Air Systems, an integrated Business Unit of EADS Defence & Security, said that they had a strong interest to create a long-lasting strategic partnership with Indian aerospace and defence companies. “We are committed to bring our capabilities, skills and technologies into this win-win-partnership. India is our partner of choice and therefore we invite India to join the Eurofighter Typhoon programme as a partner. We are ready to listen and to learn from our Indian customers and industrial partners,” the CEO said.

Gerwert said that a competitive Eurofighter Typhoon bid proposal and a comprehensive offset offer were submitted to the Indian authorities last year. “Since then, 25 Memoranda of Understandings (MoUs) have been signed to enhance the industrial cooperation with

India's aerospace and defence industry. The Eurofighter Typhoon partner companies are confident to fulfill the 50 percent offset obligation of the Request for Proposal (RFP) and will offer India access to an international sourcing network of unparalleled scope,” he said.

The production of the Eurofighter Typhoon in the country will create thousands of new jobs. The CEO said that the leading-edge combat aircraft had a tremendous built-in growth potential and therefore the Eurofighter partner companies are able to offer India new opportunities for future cooperation in design, development and manufacture. “We are ready to provide our operational, support, engineering and development capabilities to the Indian aerospace and defence sector which is growing fast and we want to grow together with this dynamic development,” Gerwert said.

EADS which led the Eurofighter Typhoon campaign in India is currently preparing its participation in the flight trials of the Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) competition. The flight trials are expected later this year after a short-listing of the bidders and intensive preparations have been launched to meet this important milestone.

The German Air Force has deployed three Eurofighter Typhoon at the Bangalore air show. “It is the very first time that Eurofighter Typhoon flies in the Indian air space and therefore they will be a major highlight at Aero India 2009,” Gerwert said.

The CEO of Eurofighter GmbH, Aloysius Rauen, said that Eurofighter Typhoon was currently the most modern combat aircraft available in the world market. “Eurofighter Typhoon is clearly in the pole position with an order book of more than 700 aircraft for six nations,” Rauen said.