Germany needs full Eurofighter order

Posted on: Jan. 3rd, 2006 || Source: today.reuters.co.uk | E-mail Article | Print Article

Germany needs full Eurofighter order

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's Defence Ministry said on Monday it was still committed to acquiring 180 Eurofighter military jets after a defence policy spokesman with the co-ruling SPD called on Berlin to trim its order by 68 aircraft.

"We still see need for 180 Eurofighters," a defence ministry spokesman told Reuters, when asked to comment on the remarks from Hans-Peter Bartels, a Social Democrat (SPD) defence policy specialist.

Bartels told Berliner Zeitung newspaper on Monday that Germany should hold talks with other countries aimed at getting out of placing a firm order for its final tranche of Eurofighter jets without incurring financial penalties.

Germany has provisionally ordered 180 Eurofighter jets as part of a four-country order for 620 aircraft to be delivered in three tranches. The other countries involved in the project are Britain, Spain and Italy.

Germany has yet to agree on its last tranche of 68 jets, worth around 2.5 billion euros (1.7 billion pounds). Bartels said the money could be better spent on other common European defence projects.

Germany's former SPD-led government always ruled out cutting the Eurofighter order despite recurring doubts about the project's cost and relevance following the end of the Cold War.

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