Fighter Destined For Austrian Air Force

Aero-News learned Thursday the first Eurofighter Typhoon for an export nation successfully concluded its first flight at EADS Military Air Systems in Manching, Germany. Aircraft number AS001 -- the first to be delivered by the Eurofighter consortium of Alenia Aeronautica, BAE Systems, EADS CASA and EADS Germany to the Austrian Air Force -- was piloted by EADS test pilot Chris Worning and took off at 1115 local time.

During the flight, the aircraft was taken through a series of basic handling maneuvers, before touching down after approximately an hour.

"The aircraft handled impeccably as expected," Worning said. "The industrial consortium behind this next generation aircraft have already delivered unrivalled capability to the Partner Air Forces, and now Austria will begin to realize the force-multiplying benefits of this world-class weapon system that is already in operation in four nations."

"The flight of AS001 as the first Austrian Eurofighter Typhoon and the first export Eurofighter Typhoon, is a major milestone in the program," added Eurofighter GmbH CEO, Aloysius Rauen. "This achievement is the result of a successful cooperation of all Partner companies and suppliers, and demonstrates the ability of this international partnership to deliver to contract specification in export."

EADS representatives tell ANN AS001 is a Block 5 standard aircraft, representing the last build standard of Tranche 1. Under the terms of the contract, Austria will receive a total of 18 aircraft, with deliveries are scheduled to be completed in 2009.

The second aircraft for Austria, AS002, was rolled out only a few days earlier, and is now undergoing final checks before engine runs and the addition of Air Force colors to the aircraft. First flight is scheduled for April.

Nearly 640 Eurofighter Typhoons are on order, with 116 series production aircraft delivered to date to the four development partner nations --Germany, Italy, Spain and The United Kingdom.

FMI: www.eurofighter.com