Kuwait agrees to buy 28 Eurofighter Typhoons in multibillion euro deal

Kuwait is the third country in the Arabian Gulf to commit to the Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft. Courtesy Eurofighter

Kuwait has agreed to buy 28 Eurofighter Typhoons in a multibillion euro deal.

It becomes the third country in the Arabian Gulf to commit to the combat aircraft, after Saudi Arabia and Oman.

The agreement was struck between the governments of Kuwait and Italy.

Eurofighter is a partnership between Italy's Finmeccanica, Britain's BAE Systems and the aircraft manufacturer Airbus.

“This new agreement is the confirmation of the superiority of the Eurofighter over its competitors and will provide a great opportunity for further Eurofighter orders,” said Alberto Gutierrez, the chief executive of Eurofighter. “We are delighted to welcome Kuwait as the newest member of our Eurofighter Typhoon family. The Eurofighter is already proven and trusted by six countries to perform in all operational environments.”

The deal follows reports in May that the Kuwaitis were in discussions with the United States to purchase up to 40 Boeing F/A-18 fighters.

The deal is a major coup for Eurofighter’s Typhoon as it has struggled against lower-cost rivals such as France’s Rafale, which has commitments from Egypt, Qatar and India. The Typhoon this year has been upgraded with an enhanced radar system and improved missile capability.

The Eurofighter Typhoon, which has a list price of about US$140 million, is Europe’s largest collaborative defence programme, with the Kuwait purchase taking the number of aircraft sold to 599.

Since it first entered into service in late 2003, 444 aircraft have been delivered to six countries – Germany, Britain, Italy, Spain, Austria and Saudi Arabia.

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