UK firm to submit offer on Typhoon fighter jets

UAE to purchase some of the most advanced jet fighters in the world

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LONDON // An official bid will soon be submitted to the UAE Air Force by the Eurofighter European consortium.
The UAE has been in talks with a number of nations for advanced multi-role aircraft, including the French maker Dassault for its Rafale fighter.
The UK defence company BAE Systems said it has been in discussions with the UAE, and if it won the bid it would provide the Air Force with the squadron of Eurofighter Typhoons in a deal that would include a unique "level of involvement".
"We are getting close with formalising our bids for a significant number of Typhoons," Alan Garwood, group business development director at BAE, said at the Defence and Security Exhibition International in London.
"We have been working with the UAE Air Force, [its commander] Maj Gen Mohammed Al Qamzi and his team, in refining the specifications so should they choose to buy they would get exactly the aircraft that they want," Mr Garwood said.
The Eurofighter consortium met UAE Air Force officials in Abu Dhabi in July this year.
"What is being discussed is the most advanced Typhoon when compared to the existing fleet or any orders that have been made," said Tony Gilchrist, BAE's vice president of air programmes, after those talks.
Mr Garwood said talks on partnerships were continuing with local companies Tawazun and Mubadala.
"We are working with our partners Eads and Rolls-Royce, primarily on offering technologies that are not available in the UAE and a level of involvement on the Typhoon that has not been offered to anyone else, ever," he said.
Eads is the European defence and civilian aircraft group that includes the makers of Airbus passenger planes.
amustafa@thenational.ae