Eurofighter Has "Holes In Rear Fuselage"

Germany has suspended Eurofighter delivers after it was "established, in the context of quality controls that a manufacturing defect has caused a large number of small holes in the rear fuselage of aircraft".

The reasons for this are inadequate finishing by the manufacturer BAE Systems, according to a statement issued by the German Ministry of Defense.

Since the impact of these problems on the life of the airframe cannot be predicted, a reduction of flight hours recommended by industry was introduced as an additional safety measure. With immediate effect, the service life of the Eurofighter aircraft has been halved, from 3,000 flight hours to 1,500 flight hours.

The manufacturing defect described has, according to industry, no impact on the current flight safety and operational capability of the Eurofighter weapon system. Training and deployment operations continue to be assured, the statement added.

To avoid any disadvantages and to protect the rights of the Ministry of Defense as a result of this under-performance, acceptance of further aircraft was suspended pending resolution of the commercial aspects of this issue.