Eurofighter to Secure Airspace During World Economic Forum

January 24th, 2013 By Eurofighter GmgH - defencetalk.com

Eurofighter belonging to the Austrian Armed Forces will be used to secure the airspace during the World Economic Forum 2013 in Davos. As part of the airspace surveillance operation “Daedalus 2013,” Eurofighter aircraft will ensure, as in previous years, that no unknown aircraft over Austrian territory can approach the conference in Switzerland. The international conference is due to take place from 23 to 27 January in the famous ski resort.

On behalf of the Eurofighter consortium and the Eurofighter Partner Companies, Eurofighter CEO, Enzo Casolini, said: “We are proud that the Eurofighter not only makes a significant contribution to the security and defence of the Republic of Austria, but also supports the safety precautions for this internationally renowned conference in Switzerland.” All Eurofighter which are in use in Austria, have passed the planned upgrade programme and were equipped with this performance-enhanced hardware and software. Thus the Armed Forces now have the latest capability standard for Tranche 1 aircraft.

In recent years, Eurofighter Typhoon were already in use in numerous large international events. For example, Eurofighter of the Royal Air Force secured the airspace during the Olympic Games in London in summer 2012. For that, these modern combat aircraft were on Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) duty seven days a week around the clock. The aircraft also controlled the airspace during the European Football Championship in Austria and Switzerland in 2008.

Since entry into service in 2004, more than 350 Eurofighter have been delivered to six nations: Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Austria and Saudi Arabia. In December 2012, Oman became the seventh customer and ordered a total of twelve aircraft. Currently, Eurofighter is in service at 20 operational units and up to now, the Eurofighter fleet has completed more than 160,000 flying hours worldwide.

Eurofighter Typhoon is the most advanced new generation multi-role/swing-role combat aircraft currently available on the world market. Seven nations (Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Austria, Saudi Arabia and Oman) have already ordered the Eurofighter Typhoon. With 719 aircraft under contract and 571 on order, Eurofighter is currently the largest military procurement programme in Europe. Its high technology strengthens the position of European aerospace industry in the international market. The programme secures more than 100,000 jobs in 400 companies.

Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH manages the programme on behalf of the Eurofighter Partner Companies Alenia Aermacchi/Finmeccanica, BAE Systems and Cassidian in Germany and Spain, which are the most important aviation and aerospace companies in Europe with a turnover of about 123.2 billion euro (2011).