Germany has approved the procurement of additional Eurofighter combat aircraft for the Luftwaffe under the country’s Project Quadriga procurement plan.
The Luftwaffe is to retire its 38 Tranche 1 Eurofighters and replace them with Tranche 3 aircraft fitted to the new Quadriga configuration (Airbus)
The country’s parliament cleared the launch of the multi-billion Euro project for 38 newbuild Eurofighters on 5 November, one day after the Defence Committee had given its approval.
“We [will] procure 38 Eurofighters [of the] the latest generation. Today the Haushaltsausschuss [Budget Committee] gave the green light to the German Bundestag. The aircraft will be delivered to the Bundeswehr for a modern and sustainable Luftwaffe,” the Federal Ministry of Defence (BMVg) tweeted. A contract is now expected to be signed in the coming days.
As previously reported by Janes , Project Quadriga will see the Luftwaffe replace 38 Tranche 1 Eurofighters, which will be sold to the international market, with new-build Tranche 3 aircraft (although Airbus officials are increasingly referring to these new aircraft as Tranche 4). These 31 single-seater (currently planned to comprise 26 firm orders with options for five more) and seven twin-seater aircraft will be equipped with the E-Scan Radar 1 active electronically scanned array (AESA) sensor and updated software.
While Airbus first briefed about Project Quadriga in November 2019, the German government announced its intent to award the contract in April. This planned procurement is part of a wider buy of 138 new aircraft for the Luftwaffe that will also include 55 Eurofighters and 30 Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets for the Tornado replacement programme, and 15 Boeing EA-18G Growlers for the requirement for the Luftgestützte Wirkung im Elektromagnetischen Spektrum (luWES) electronic attack (EA) programme for NATO.
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