BAE Systems has quietly delivered the first two Eurofighter Typhoon fighters to the Royal Air Force of Oman; these two two-seaters are pictured here as they prepare to take-off from BAE’s Warton plant on their ferry flight to Oman. (Twitter photo)
The delivery, which has not yet been announced by BAE Systems, will continue at a reduced rate as the company tries to keep the Typhoon line open as long as possible while it awaits the long-anticipated, but increasingly unlikely, follow-on Saudi order (Al Salaam II) for 48 additional Typhoons.
Sources say that four more deliveries to Oman are planned by year-end: the third and final two-seater and the first three single-seaters, which have all already made their maiden flight during the first half of this year.
Royal Air Force of #Oman receives the first batch of Typhoon fighters at Adam Air Base http://pic.twitter.com/UETjQAtoMZ
— محمد بن خالد (@MbKS15) June 21, 2017
Just as quietly, BAE also delivered the final two Typhoons of the original Saudi order on June 6. Saudi Arabia now has received its full complement of 72 Typhoons, which were ordered in 2007 under the “Al-Salaam” contract.
BAE’s Typhoon production backlog has now been reduced to eight for the Royal Air Force of Oman (four have already been built, of which two were delivered this week) and 18 more – all Tranche 3A single-seaters – for the UK’s Royal Air Force.
Baring new orders, the assembly line will close in 2019, although some component production will continue for another couple of years for the 28 Kuwaiti Typhoons that Kuwait has ordered from Italy’s Finmeccanica, how known as Leonardo.
-ends-
from Defense Aerospace - Press releases http://ift.tt/2rG3V7D
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