La cooperazione industriale europea e le sfide per l’economia

Defence industry

Winning Italian technology for the development of the Eurofighter consortium

Leonardo's role: the Italian group holds a 36% share in the programme with a highly diversified involvement

30 July 2024

La produzione di caccia Eurofighter Typhoon nel polo aeronautico di Leonardo a Caselle (Torino). Il gruppo è tra le aziende leader nel programma

4' min read

Six hundred and eighty aircraft ordered by the four partner nations and five export customers (Austria, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Qatar), 603 aircraft delivered and more than 850,000 hours flown. These are the numbers of Typhoon, Europe's leading defence industrial collaboration project, managed by the Eurofighter Consortium. The latter consists of the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain and their leading aerospace and defence companies, namely Bae Systems, Airbus and Leonardo.

'Since its inception,' emphasises Lorenzo Mariani, co-general manager of the Italian colossus, 'the Eurofighter programme has played a crucial role in the development of advanced technologies and the employment of thousands of skilled professionals. This has also generated significant economic returns in the national markets involved in the project. The broad spectrum of activities carried out by Leonardo in the fields of aeronautics, electronics, sensors and systems requires, in fact, a highly diversified involvement, which translates into an equally broad overall result, with an important spin-off on our business programmes for the defence and civil sectors'.

In the Eurofighter Typhoon programme, Leonardo participates directly, with a 21% share, in the definition, design, development and production of the frontier technology aircraft for the European industry. Considering the shares of responsibility for the construction of the airframe of the aircraft and those related to avionics and on-board electronics, Leonardo's overall share reaches about 36% of the value of the entire programme. The company also plays a significant role in major international collaboration programmes for the development of defence aircraft.

In terms of employment, the programme employs around 100 thousand people in the four partner nations, of which 24 thousand in Italy (including direct, indirect and induced employment). Over 400 suppliers work for Typhoon, 200 of which are Italian.

Illustrating the continuous evolution of the project are Leonardo engineers who explain how a series of technological upgrades have enabled 'the machine to significantly increase its range of missions and, above all, to strengthen its effectiveness in countering current and future threats. Thanks to the progressive updating, in line with future digital environments, production technologies and emerging development techniques, as well as operational activities, characterised by ever-increasing requirements, the aircraft is destined to guarantee strategic autonomy to its users until at least 2060'.

The Eurofighter's evolutionary path envisages, among other things, the ability to interact with next-generation fighters and their 'ecosystem', consisting of cooperating drones, advanced weapon systems and electronic warfare sensors. "In this future-oriented scenario," the engineers continue, "Eurofighter is developing new technologies that will affect mission system architecture, man-machine interface, operational management and engine performance. Much of the work related to the evolution of the fighter will be able to be transferred to next-generation combat air programmes, for which the Eurofighter will be able to act as a technology demonstrator, allowing a substantial reduction in risk, in the design phase, and also supporting production activity in Italy.

Regarding the most recent Eurofighter orders, in June, at the Ila show in Berlin (a historic aerospace trade fair), German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that Germany will purchase another 20 Eurofighter fighters, in addition to the 38 already on order, as part of the Quadriga programme. Also in June, a significant new package of technological upgrades, called P4E, was recently approved by Netma (Nato Eurofighter & Tornado management agency). The Italian government, for its part, has expressed its intention to purchase 24 new fighters for the Air Force: the order is being examined by the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.

'The Eurofighter,' Mariani points out, 'is experiencing a good momentum, also in terms of exports, with potential customers including Poland, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, in addition to current users, who could add further aircraft to their fleets. Also supporting Eurofighter's momentum is the P4E upgrade programme, which has just been approved by Netma. This will lead to a number of improvements, including an automated sensor management capability, reducing pilot workload. Thanks to the recently acquired orders and the concrete new opportunities on the export and domestic markets, the Eurofighter programme will continue to guarantee, for Italy and its European partner countries, a significant economic return and the creation of new highly qualified jobs, with positive spin-offs in the territories where it is produced and operated, for at least another three decades.

The numbers

680 aircraft ordered. With 680 aircraft ordered from the four partner nations and five export customers, 603 aircraft delivered and more than 850,000 hours flown, the Typhoon, operated by the Eurofighter GmbH Consortium, is Europe's largest industrial collaboration project in the defence field

4 nations involved. The Eurofighter Typhoon consortium consists of four countries: the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain and their leading aerospace and defence companies: Leonardo, Airbus and Bae System

36% Share of Leonardo. In this programme, Leonardo participates directly, with a 21% share, in the definition, design, development and production of the aircraft, the technological frontier of European industry. Considering the shares in responsibility for the construction of the airframe of the aircraft and those for avionics and on-board electronics, Leonardo's overall share reaches about 36% of the value of the entire programme

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Luogo: Genova
Lingue parlate: italiano, inglese
Argomenti: shipping, nautica, economia, finanza.
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