Stiri	Stiri afaceri	Stiri companii	Evenimente de afaceri

Alenia - a step closer to convincing Romania to select Eurofighter

The Italian company has signed a collaboration contract with Aerostar Bacau, the plant where it will build an assembly line for the Eurofighter, provided the fighter jet is selected by the Romanian Air Force.

Bucharest - Alenia Aeronautica, a member of Italy's Finmeccanica Group, has signed yesterday an agreement with Aerostar Bacau. According to the agreement, the two companies will collaborate provided Romania selects the Eurofighter Typhoon.

Alenia and Aerostar will collaborate within the Eurofighter Typhoon program provided the fighter jet is selected by the Romanian Air Force.

Nevertheless, the memorandum also opens the way for Aerostar's involvement in Finmeccanica's aerospace activities, and it also represents the starting point of a partnership that could extend to other civilian and military programs, a joint communiqué issued by the two companies reads.

‘This Eurofighter Typhoon project represents a special opportunity for Aerostar to join the largest defence program in Europe, a EUR 40 bln program that has a significant impact in the four partner countries - Italy, Germany, United Kingdom and Spain,' Pierluigi Parolin, the Head of Industrial Compensation for Alenia Aeronautica, stated in a press conference.

Giuseppe Paoletti, the sales campaign director for Romania Alenia Aeronautica, considers that the Typhoon could be the only fighter jet capable to resist the powerful Su-30 fighter jet used by the Russian Army during the recent events in Georgia. A series of countries that operate the F-16 fighter jet (such as the Netherlands, Denmark, United States and Greece) are about to replace it.

Eurofighter representatives stake on the fact that Aerostar could be interested in the offer put forward by the Group of European companies, an offer that has lower logistical and maintenance costs. The foreigners are also stressing the fact that the entire Bacau County could benefit from this project, since a significant part of the money will remain in Bacau for as long as the Typhoon jets are in use. The Eurofighter consortium is offering Romania an industrial participation offset that amounts to approximately 80 per cent of the contract. If Romania will select the Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet then the first delivery will take place in 2010.

The Aerostar Bacau airplane plant could also produce various components for the Gripen multirole fighter, provided Sweden's SAAB will win the EUR 4.5 bln contract that Romania plans to sign in order to equip its Air Force. Alenia Aeronautica maintains its interest in Avioane Craiova, however everything depends on the terms of the privatization process too. The Eurofighter consortium has already evaluated the technical capabilities of Avioane Craiova and Aerostar Bacau plants and if the decision to buy the 48 fighter jets is taken Romania could have a final local assembly line for that type of fighter jet.

 

Sursa: http://www.nineoclock.ro

Tags: eurofighter typhoon could fighter bacau aerostar alenia romania air