Eurofighter Progress on Schedule
EADS delivers first series production center fuselage to BAE Systems
Athens, 01 October 2000
"Three years ago we agreed with our partners in the Eurofighter program to deliver the first production center fuselage from this plant on 31 August 31, 2000 - We have kept this promise precisely on time", said Erwin Obermeier, EADS Military Aircraft Director Series Production Programs, on the occasion of the hand-over ceremony at EADS Manching/Bavaria. In accordance with the series production contracts signed between the customers and industry in 1998, this fully-equipped fuselage section was then shipped to BAE Systems for final assembly of the first Royal Air Force Eurofighter aircraft. Mating of the major fuselage components meanwhile has started at BAE Warton on September 7, 2000, one day ahead of schedule.
Amongst other important activities within the collaborative program, the Military Aircraft Business Unit of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) has overall systems design responsibility for the center fuselage of the most advanced fourth-generation fighter and is the single-source producer for all 620 units on order for the four Eurofighter partner nations. The center fuselage production involves EADS plants in Northern Germany, which manufacture rear structural components and the carbon-fiber skin; the Military Aircraft factories in Augsburg, where the center and forward parts of the fuselage section are manufactured and assembled; and finally, Manching with the equipping and testing activities. Manching is also the site of the final assembly line for the 180 Eurofighter aircraft for the German Air Force (GAF), where splicing of the major components of the first GAF production Eurofighter will start in December this year. According to the work-share agreements and the single-source principles, BAE Systems will produce the forward fuselage, Alenia Aerospazio (Italy) parts of the rear fuselage and the port wings, and the EADS Military Aircraft plant in Spain will deliver aft fuselage components and the starboard wings. Assembly of the 87 Spanish production aircraft will start at the EADS Getafe plant (near Madrid) in March 2001.
In his speech, Obermeier praised the spirit of cooperation within the Eurofighter program, which amalgamates the expertise, competence and cooperation of three leading European aerospace companies: EADS, Alenia Aerospazio and BAE Systems, partnered within the Eurofighter consortium to jointly develop the best combat aircraft on the market. Subsequently, he gave some details of the first production center fuselage, for which the first metal cutting started in May 1998. With a structural weight of 1,550 kg, the fully equipped major component weighs roughly 2,500 kg. Joined from 7,868 construction parts, the overall length is 6.55 meters, width 2.2 meters, and height 1.95 meters. In total, it is composed of 148,334 standardized, off-the-shelf or specified components, and accommodates 304 different sets of equipment as well as approximately 30 kilometers of wiring and fiber-optical links. To manufacture this first center fuselage, it took roughly 80,000 man hours or 28 months. "You can be absolutely sure that due to the learning-curve effect during production we will cut this time in half for the future", Obermeier said. "With production in full swing around the year 2004, Manching will have an annual output of 55 center fuselages, and around 15 Eurofighter aircraft per year will be delivered from here to the German Air Force", he added.
Athens, October 2000
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