Hoon to ditch EuroFighter

TheSUN ^ | 03/02/04 | GEORGE PASCOE-WATSON

[Pikamax]

The bomb's rush ... Geoff Hoon is set to scrap orders for the ill-fated Eurofighter

By GEORGE PASCOE-WATSON
Deputy Political EditorDEFENCE Secretary Geoff Hoon is poised to scrap the Eurofighter warplane — because it’s useless.

Military experts reckon the jet — jointly built by Britain, Germany, Spain and Italy — cannot be used either as a fighter or a bomber.

Now Mr Hoon is on the brink of axeing orders for 177 Eurofighters to ensure taxpayers are not left with a white elephant costing £30billion.

The move risks infuriating our three EU partners.

But Mr Hoon believes RAF pilots will be placed in grave danger if we do not back out.

The planes, called Typhoons, will not carry air-to-air missiles or precision-guided air-to-ground weapons.

Hoon ... on brink of axing orders
Picture: REUTERS

One source said: “The British taxpayer should not end up with a machine that looks pretty at air displays but can’t go into action. Geoff won’t sign up to future phases unless it is fit for going to war. And under current plans, it’s just not up to the job.”

Ministers have already written off £7billion on the first batch of 55 Typhoons.

Pulling out of future orders would cost around £2billion because of penalties in the contract.

Italy, Germany and Spain are all dragging their heels over funding.

Germany has refused to fork out the extra needed to equip the jet with up-to-date weaponry.

The RAF have only taken delivery of four aircraft.

They were four years late and will not be ready for action for another two years.

The project has been plagued by delays and cash overruns since its design 20 years ago.

Experts blame EU-loving ex-Defence Secretary Michael Heseltine for lumbering us with the project.

[KellyAdmirer]

Military experts reckon the jet — jointly built by Britain, Germany, Spain and Italy — cannot be used either as a fighter or a bomber.

But it looks great parked on the runway.

[Nachum]

Hey, I know. Sell them to the Saudis......

[FormerACLUmember]

Looks like a cheap knock off of the old delta winged version of the F-16 Falcon. More modern state-of-the-art F-16s are being made and sold to an overjoyed Israel and elsewhere. Why not buy the real deal?

[okie01]

The planes, called Typhoons, will not carry air-to-air missiles or precision-guided air-to-ground weapons.

"What, then, was it designed to do?", one might ask.

[keithtoo]

Delta Wing huh? Are the Euro-weenies still in the 50's?

[July 4th]

The French: "It may not work, but it looks faaaaabulous!"

[Shermy]

"What, then, was it designed to do?", one might ask.

Road trip!

[Porterville]

LOL, Europe is such a funny bunch of communist; the damn thing doesn't even look like it can fly, what is it a Delta Wing from the 50's or something.... the french already done that.

[Threepwood]

It was designed to provide a quiet subsidy to the European areo-space industry. It did so, for nearly twenty years. Mission Accomplished!

[July 4th]

Eurofighter is an oxymoron.

[FormerACLUmember]

This turkey reminds me of the definition of a camel: a horse designed by a committee.

[Porterville]

You were thinking the exact same thing I was... where you laughing your ass off too??

[keithtoo]

These planes may be the vanguard of the European Rapid Capitulation Force,

...or in French - Force' Capitulacion Rapide, or ForCRap

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

When it come to weapons systems, Saudis prefer to buy American.

[hoot2]

"Looks like a cheap knock off of the old delta winged version of the F-16 Falcon"

how bout the ol 102?

[GeronL]

Military experts reckon the jet — jointly built by Britain, Germany, Spain and Italy — cannot be used either as a fighter or a bomber.

LOL. Building airplanes by political committee does not work.... check out the Navy Fighter F-111...

[GeronL]

The planes, called Typhoons, will not carry air-to-air missiles or precision-guided air-to-ground weapons.

"What, then, was it designed to do?", one might ask.

Man, this EU thing is more messed up than I supposed.

[Pukin Dog]

The Eurofighter is an AMAZING AIRCRAFT. Don't blame the designers for this screwup, because the blame belongs with the feckless governments that refused to fund R&D to the end when the economy went south.

The fact is, short of the F-22, the Eurofighter is the worlds most capable fighter aircraft. I see someone on this thread knocking the delta-wing design, and they are nuts. The canard/delta combination is one of the best designs around.

The Eurofighter was the first aircraft EVER to achieve supercruise, NOT the F-22. If the plane is canceled, it will be good for America, but no one here should take from this article that the Eurofighter is not a good aircraft, because it is really, really good, and if the Europeans had funded it through final development, it would have lived up to it's design potential.

[Spruce]

The roll-out of the F22, and the contract award for JSF was a major nail in Euro-Fighter's coffin. They lost.