The Goverment of Germany has reportedly halted the delivery of Eurofighter combat aircraft following the discovery of a manufacturing defect.
Citing a German lawmaker from the Defence Ministry, Reuters reported that the manufacturing issue found in the fuselage of the aircraft was caused by rivet holes in the rear part of the fuselage being incorrectly filed off.
Germany temporarily stopped taking delivery of Eurofighters a year ago after finding a similar manufacturing problem.
In addition, the German Air Force grounded its entire fleet of 55 Eurofighter combat jets in September 2010 due to technical problems with the plane’s ejection seats.
The decision was a result of the crash of a two-seat Eurofighter at the end of August at Moron Air Base, near Seville in Spain.
Eurofighter Typhoon is a twin-engine, canard-delta wing, multirole fighter manufactured by a consortium of EADS, Alenia Aeronautica and BAE Systems, for deployment during air operations, including air policing, peace support and high-intensity conflict missions worldwide.
Germany has ordered 143 of the fighter, with final delivery is scheduled in 2018. The country received the 100th Eurofighter in March 2013.
Recently, Kuwait signed an agreement with Italy to purchase 28 Eurofighter Typhoon swing-role combat aircraft, strengthening the country’s military capabilities.
Under this new deal, Kuwait is expected to receive 22 single-side jets and six dual-seat aircraft.
Entered into service in 2003, a total of 444 aircraft have been delivered to six nations such Germany, the UK, Italy, Spain, Austria and Saudi Arabia. In the Middle East, Oman also ordered 12 aircraft in December 2012.
Image: A Eurofighter Typhoon. Photo: courtesy of Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH.
