Germany denies halving order for Eurofighters

Berlin: Germany on Monday denied newspaper reports that it wanted to cut back its order for a final batch of Eurofighter jets. The report, carried by German business daily Handelsblatt, reported Monday that Germany wanted to halve the size of its order for a third tranche of the aircraft.

"There isn't any talk about halving the third tranche," a Defence Ministry spokesman told a regular government news conference, adding: "For operational reasons, Germany still requires 180 Eurofighters."

Under the original plan, Germany, Italy, Spain and Britain would have received the third batch of 236 aircraft between 2012 and 2017.

Of the 236 fighters, 68 were intended for Germany.

However, the spokesman said the countries participating in the Eurofighter project, Germany, Spain, Britain and Italy, were discussing splitting the third tranche into two parts. These talks are likely to be held Thursday.

Tight budgets resulting from the financial crisis are responsible for second thoughts on the order, atleast for Germany. The UK has already been trying hard to wriggle out of its commitments for long, even as it tries to provide budgetary and military space for the American JSF-35. 

In 1997, Germany ordered 180 Eurofighter planes, which reports suggest is likely to cost the German defence budget some 25 billion Euros.

Germany's Social Democrat Party, junior partner in the governing coalition, has always been sharply critical of the Eurofighter programme and has advocated a cut in the programme for both financial and military reasons.

The spokesman didn't say where Thursday's talks would take place.

The Eurofighter consortium includes Britain's BAE Systems BA.L, Airbus parent EADS (EAD.PA)