Finmeccanica Awarded 600 Million Euro Contract to Support Italian Air Force Typhoon Fleet

Released on Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Finmeccanica is pleased to announce that the NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency (NETMA) and Eurofighter GmbH today signed a contract worth more than EUR 600 million with the Finmeccanica Group for the supply of five-year integrated support services for the Italian Air Force fleet of Eurofighter aircraft. The activities set out in the contract will be carried out by Alenia Aeronautica, in its role as prime contractor, together with SELEX Galileo and SELEX Communications and the participated company Elettronica. Alenia Aeronautica, as the sole interface with the Italian Air Force for all support activities relating to the Eurofighter aircraft, will be responsible for managing the supply and repair of all equipment on the aircraft, including avionics equipment; determining requirements and the supply of all consumables necessary to ensure the fleet good repair and efficiency; and to maintain and manage the instruments required to carry out maintenance work.

SELEX Galileo will manage the operational availability of a large part of the aircraft's avionics suite both for equipment designed in-house and by other companies. The contract provides for routine and extraordinary maintenance, technical support, the identification of pattern defects, the management of obsolescence and customer assets, and the supply of spare parts and test solutions. SELEX Communications will assist in the maintenance of the communication, navigation and identification equipment installed on the Italian Typhoon fleet. The service includes setting up a maintenance centre at the air base, the supply and maintenance of the devices used to test the equipment, the detachment of specialist engineers, the repair of faulty modules and support activities (management, fault analysis, reporting).

ELETTRONICA, as Lead Contractor EuroDASS, will be responsible for systems support of the Praetorian defensive aids suite installed on the Typhoons. In collaboration with SELEX GALILEO (UK) and INDRA (Spain), ELETTRONICA will ensure the operational availability of the Praetorian via a continuous support service at the operational bases provided by highly-skilled personnel. ELETTRONICA will also ensure the management of the supply chain.

The Finmeccanica Group's participation in the Eurofighter programme's industrial activities amounts to around 36% (excluding engines), and it plays an important role in defining, designing, developing and producing the aerostructures, systems integration and avionics for the aircraft. Finmeccanica's contribution to activities relating to on-board electronics for the Typhoon amounts to over 60%.