Tranche Warfare

According to a recent study by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), the Eurofighter program—Europe’s largest defense program presided over primarily by the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, and Italy—will, through 2060, cumulatively secure 26,000 jobs in Spain. The PWC study examined the economic impacts of the Halcon and Quadriga contracts on España.

Project Halcón (Spanish: falcon), seeks to replace aging E/F-18A Hornets with newly-built Eurofighters. The initiative mirrors, to a degree, Germany’s Project Quadriga (Latin: a chariot drawn by four horses abreast), which sets out to replace the country’s aging Tornado and older Tranche 1 Eurofighters with new aircraft featuring numerous upgrades, to include the new GE/BAE Captor E-Scan Mk1 AESA radar.

The term tranche describes a portion of something, usually money, and within the relative contexts of E.U. and U.S. military equipment procurals is synonymous with block.

The study—funded by Airbus, technically supported by ITP Aero, and performed independently by PWC over a period of the six months spanning October 2022 through 2023—estimates that, during its life-cycle, the manufacturing phase (2020-2030) and maintenance phase (2023-2060) of the Halcon and Quadriga programs will create, on average, 657 jobs—direct, indirect, and induced—per year, reaching a total of 26,000 positions by 2060. The totals equate to an overall annual employment impact of 2.7-percent direct jobs in the Spanish aerospace sector.

The Halcon and Quadriga Eurofighter Tranche 4 contracts are expected to contribute nearly €1.7-billion ($1.83-billion) to Spanish GDP, with the manufacturing and maintenance of Halcon aircraft generating approximately €1.5-billion and the production of Quadriga aircraft making up the remaining €200-million.

The employment and economic contribution during both phases will generate a total tax collection of €430-million, of which €151-million will be direct contribution. Furthermore, for every euro collected directly, €2.8 of total tax revenue will be generated in the Spanish economy.

Signed in June 2022, the Halcon contract consists of the acquisition of twenty latest-generation Eurofighter jets to replace the aging F-18 fleet operated by the Spanish Air Force on the Canary Islands.

The Halcon program followed the Quadriga contract, signed in 2020, to deliver 38 new Eurofighter aircraft to the German Air Force (Luftwaffe), making Germany the country with the largest stake in the Eurofighter program.

The Halcon program will see the Spanish Eurofighter fleet grow to ninety aircraft, with the first delivery due in 2026. The program secures industrial production through 2030. Quadriga secures production of the new Tranche 4 Eurofighter—at present, the most modern European-built combat aircraft—until 2030. The Tranche 4 aircraft will have service-lives well beyond 2060. Both the Halcon and Quadriga programs guarantee, ostensibly, the continued autonomy of E.U. and European national strategic air defenses.

In total, the Eurofighter program secures more than 100,000 jobs throughout Europe.

FMI: www.airbus.com