Yeah mid-year is the expected announcement date according to the press.dmereifield wrote:Thanks for the info. I believe the final decision will be announced around June/July, right? does anyone know why the UK/BAE are leading the Typhoon proposal? Would it not have made more sense for Germany to have led it?
To your latter point, while anybody (i guess) could knock out a full fat swing role Typhoon, the RAF's got the most amount of experience using Typhoon in the swing role than anyone else in the consortium (+ BAE has more experience supporting/developing the aircraft for that role). Belgium wants their fighter to be a mud-mover just as much as a fighter after all.
I suspect the relevant political angles regarding GER/BEL relationships are being followed up however.