• Article
  • 05 May 2017

The 500th Eurofighter delivered to the Italian Air Force

The 500th Eurofighter delivered to the Italian Air Force.jpg + Listing Image

The 500th Eurofighter has been delivered to the Italian Air Force in a special ceremony at Leonardo Aircraft Division’s Turin site.

In total, 599 of the aircraft have been ordered, making the Eurofighter the largest collaborative industrial programme in Europe.   Almost 400,000 hours have been flown.

The 500th Eurofighter Typhoon was delivered to the Italian Air Force during a special ceremony.  Lt. Gen. Gabriele Salvestroni, Logistic Commander of the Italian Air Force, took delivery of the aircraft in the presence of Filippo Bagnato, Leonardo Aircraft Division’s Managing Director, Volker Paltzo, Chief Executive Officer of Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug, Peter Schmidt, Deputy General Manager of NETMA, and representatives from the Eurofighter partner nations and partner companies.

Volker Paltzo, Chief Executive Officer of Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH, said:

"The 500 strong Eurofighter Typhoon fleet represents one of the largest and most capable fighter fleets in the western hemisphere, and will be the backbone of European airpower for decades to come.  Today’s handover is a great testament to the programme’s success, and I firmly expect to see the fleet grow further as our partner companies continue to pursue opportunities for more orders internationally."

Filippo Bagnato, Leonardo Aircraft Division Managing Director, said:

"We are very proud to deliver the 500th Eurofighter Typhoon produced to the Italian Air Force. The Eurofighter Typhoon is the largest collaborative industrial programme in Europe, it is a successful and significant contributor to the nation’s economic wellbeing, employing high-skilled workers and generating thousands of high-value manufacturing and engineering jobs. We are now fully committed to completing deliveries to the Italian Air Force, to develop the capabilities of the aircraft, and to the activities envisaged by Kuwait’s contract, while  continuing to pursue a number of significant market opportunities around the world."

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