Brexit To Threaten Eurofighter Typhoon Market in Asia

Britain’s exit from the European Union (EU), also known as “Brexit”, European defense giants will now be struggling to market Eurofighter Typhoon that has been attempting to gain ground in Asia since a decade.

Following the Brexit announcement, stocks in the UK – an ardent promoter of Eurofighter, are estimated to fall between 10% and 20%.

The Eurofighter consortium is dependent upon funding from consortium partners for marketing the aircraft. It decade-long efforts to export the fighter bore fruit earlier this year when it signed a deal with Kuwait for 28 airplanes. In addition these fighters are in service with Saudi Arabia.

Eurofighter Typhoon fighter, built jointly by Britain’s BAE Systems, Italy’s Alenia Aermacchi and multinational Airbus Group for the U.K, will face an operational headache under Brexit as funding would have to be re-aligned.  In addition, the multinatinational A400M cargo plane, developed by Airbus for seven European nations will face the heat as well.

Over the first two weeks of June, stocks values of Italy’s Leonardo (né Finmeccanica) was down 15 percent, Sweden’s Saab down 6 percent, and France’s Thales down 8 percent, Defense One reported. U.K firms BAE Systems and Cobham are down 2 percent and QinetiQ is down 6 percent, Defense One reported Monday.

Following announcement on vote on Brexit, Airbus’s UK chief Paul Kahn had said last month that if Britain left the EU then the pan-European plane maker – which produces the wings for its aircraft, such as the A350XWB, pictured left, in Broughton, North Wales – would reconsider future investment here, Telegraph UK reported.

So far, the Typhoon has yet to find any buyers in South Asia or the Pacific region. This has not been for a lack of trying: Eurofighter has entered ultimately failed bids to sell the aircraft to India, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore.