The Eurofighter Typhoon for the Kuwait Air Force features a wide range of operational capabilities designed to meet the specific operational requirements of the Kuwaiti Air Force.
The departure of the first two Eurofighter Typhoons, from a total batch of 28, was marked by a ceremony attended customer and industry representatives in Turin. Eurofighter executives led by CEO, Herman Claesen, Programmes Director, Giancarlo Mezzanatto and Director Finance & Commercial, Gabriel Semelas, attended the event.
Eurofighter industry partner, Leonardo is the market-lead for the Kuwaiti customer. Alessandro Profumo, Chief Executive Officer of Leonardo, says: “The Eurofighter Typhoons we have developed and produced for the Kuwait Air Force are the most advanced in the history of the European programme. They will provide the country with an impressive air defence capability. In cooperation with the Italian Air Force we have trained their pilots in our training centres in Italy, and built state-of-the-art infrastructures to support and maintain a fleet of 28 aircraft.”
The Eurofighter programme is a cornerstone in the development of European aerospace and defence technologies and provides the industries involved with technological leadership that will guarantee competitiveness for many next generation programmes.
The Eurofighter programme is managed by the Eurofighter GmbH consortium, a company based in Munich owned by Leonardo, BAE Systems and Airbus Defense & Space for Germany and Spain. On the government side, the programme is managed by the NATO Eurofighter & Tornado Management Agency (NETMA), which was set up to meet the procurement needs of the air forces from the four participating countries: Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Spain.
In addition to the four partner countries, which have already ordered 510 Typhoons, international customers now include Saudi Arabia (72 aircraft), Austria (15), Oman (12), Kuwait (28) and Qatar (24), a total of 661 ordered planes.
The Eurofighter programme involves more than 100,000 people in Europe.
Picture credit: Alessandro Maggia