The 500th Eurofighter Typhoon produced has been delivered to the Italian Air Force during a special ceremony held at Leonardo Aircraft Division’s Turin site.
The first Eurofighter was delivered to the UK Royal Air Force at the end of 2003. The 100th Eurofighter was delivered to the UK Royal Air Force in September 2006.
The 200th aircraft was handed over to the German Air Force in November 2009. The 300th aircraft was delivered to the Spanish Air Force in October 2011, and the 400th to the German Air Force in December 2013.
Volker Paltzo, Chief Executive Officer of Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH, said:
“The 500 strong Eurofighter Typhoon fleet represents one of the largest and most capable fighter fleets in the western hemisphere, and will be the backbone of European airpower for decades to come.
Today’s handover is a great testament to the programme’s success, and I firmly expect to see the fleet grow further as our partner companies continue to pursue opportunities for more orders internationally.”
Filippo Bagnato, Leonardo Aircraft Division Managing Director, said:
“We are very proud to deliver the 500th Eurofighter Typhoon produced to the Italian Air Force. The Eurofighter Typhoon is the largest collaborative industrial programme in Europe, it is a successful and significant contributor to the nation’s economic wellbeing, employing high-skilled workers and generating thousands of high-value manufacturing and engineering jobs.
We are now fully committed to completing deliveries to the Italian Air Force, to develop the capabilities of the aircraft, and to the activities envisaged by Kuwait’s contract, while continuing to pursue a number of significant market opportunities around the world.”
The UK has cut its planned order from 232 to 160 over the last decade.
A good production run nonetheless.
A great plane – would have been more if the French hadn’t renegaded on their commitments.
This is still one of the best aircraft in the world and with further work can be improved upon and get to 700 frames over time
It won’t reach 700 or anything close to it.
2 of the aircraft’s production lines don’t have any orders past 2019 so will close.
Any sign of the additional Saudi order materialising? Or any other orders for that matter?
Maybe Poland with a need for 50-60 high performance jets for air defence.
Eurofighter would fit the bill nicely as a defensive aircraft. Poland seem yo be willing to spend on defence so you never know….