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Italy is to replace 26 Tranche 1 Eurofighter combat aircraft with up to 24 new Tranche 4+ aircraft under a deal signed on 23 December. (Janes/Gareth Jennings)
Italy has signed for up to 24 new Eurofighter Typhoons (designated F-2000 in national service) to replace early model aircraft that are due for retirement.
Leonardo, the national industrial prime in the four-country Eurofighter consortium, announced the deal with the NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency (NETMA) on 23 December 2024. The announcement did not say what standard the new aircraft would be, and neither did it provide a breakdown of the number of single and twin seaters. However, Eurofighter told Janes on 10 January that it would comprise 22 single- and two twin-seater jets to be delivered under the Phase 3 Enhancement c (P3Ec) package that was launched in 2021 to improve the aircraft's weapons, defensive systems, and datalink capabilities, due to be released imminently. The consortium added that it could be at the P4E standard, which is due to be released in 2028 if the delivery timeline aligns. The first aircraft is due to be handed over in 2029.
News of the award came 13 months after Janes was told at the IQPC International Fighter Conference (IFC) 2023 in Madrid that the Italian Air Force (Aeronautica Militare Italiana: AMI) was looking at a further 24 aircraft to replace its 26 (including 10 twin seat) early model Eurofighter Tranche 1 fleet. The current build model is at the Tranche 4 standard (all earlier enhancements, plus an E-Scan radar), meaning that these newly contracted Italian aircraft will likely be at the Tranche 4+ (Tranche 4 plus some unspecified improvements) standard that was introduced to mitigate delays to the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) package that is supposed to define Tranche 5.
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