Free Republic

Securing Tranche 3 was a victory of sorts for Eurofighter in production of the Typhoon: It guarantees additional work to 2016, but the procurement number is less than half of that originally agreed. Wrapped in the fig leaf of a split-buy, London, rapidly made it clear that there was unlikely to be a further purchase commitment beyond Tranche 3A. Funding pressures and changing circumstances are working to undermine the offtake numbers of the umbrella contract. While the Typhoon program exemplifies the vicissitudes of collaborative development, it is providing the four partner nations—Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K.—with a highly capable...