Austria

[The Armchair Soldier]

A topic to discuss defence in Austria.

[SKB]

The house in Austria where Adolf Hitler was born is set to be demolished to stop it becoming a focal point for neo-Nazis.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-37682298

[ArmChairCivvy]

From Reuters:
"Austria wants to end its Eurofighter jet program early and replace it with a cheaper alternative fleet of aircraft leased from another government"

As they certainly won't be Hornets from the USN (Even the Ozzie lease turned into an outright purchase), then Saab/ Sweden is the likely candidate (as their own AF will start to take deliveries of E/F).
- theoretically Gripen (the old & light one) is cheaper (by 2/3s) to fly per hour
- Austria will be able to get the number to be close to their e80k/ hr (as for their Typhoons)

[Defiance]

Leased Gripens surely are the only choice.

[dmereifield]

And what of their Typhoon airframes? Which tranche are they?

[abc123]

And what of their Typhoon airframes? Which tranche are they?

Who knows? Tranche 1, IIRC...

[Defiance]

And what of their Typhoon airframes? Which tranche are they?

Who knows? Tranche 1, IIRC...

I believe so.

It'd be interesting to see how Airbus screwed the pooch on this one. In any event though it did seem like overkill for Austria, unless they had particularly stringent QRA reqts . . . .

[abc123]

And what of their Typhoon airframes? Which tranche are they?

Who knows? Tranche 1, IIRC...

I believe so.

It'd be interesting to see how Airbus screwed the pooch on this one. In any event though it did seem like overkill for Austria, unless they had particularly stringent QRA reqts . . . .

Meh, pressure from Germany...

They should have bought Gripen.

[Timmymagic]

Leased Gripens surely are the only choice.

Probably second hand bought outright or leased. The Swedes are looking to move to an all Gripen E fleet. They'll have a lot of low mileage Gripen C's for sale in due course as I think they've gone for purchasing 70 new production Gripen E. That means there is c100 Gripen C going spare. The Bulgarians and Croats will probably go down that route, I wouldn't be shocked if the Belgians didn't go down that route either as Saab seems to be very good at putting together loans and offset packages. Saab would inevitably get the upgrade work to Gripen E eventually as well.

Pity we haven't got any spare cash lying around..

[ArmChairCivvy]

The Bulgarians and Croats

Put in the Czech and Hungarian airforces, so from the Tatra to the Black Sea (would be) an almost uninterrupted Gripen chain.
- The "Cs" claim a per flight hour cost of one third of that for a Eurofighter ("Es" are bigger planes and jam packed with the latest goodies so the margin must be narrowing considerably)

offset packages.

Not allowed within the EU (Sweden and Belgium both being in).

[Timmymagic]

Not allowed within the EU (Sweden and Belgium both being in).

They seem to have managed to find a way, as both Hungary and the Czech Republic signed on the dotted line after joining the EU. Might be connected to a lease rather than a purchase (although purchase seems to be discussed later). It might be one of those EU rules that don't apply to all member states....

[ArmChairCivvy]

The official findings were handed in at the end of June, and based on them
"Brigadier General added that, outside Austria, the Eurofighter Typhoon Tranche 1 fleet is operated only by the Eurofighter countries, namely the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain, and that every one of those countries has other future concepts. Gruber: "Consequently, it appears likely that there will be no uniform Eurofighter Typhoon Tranche 1 system in the future."

Savings of up to 2 billion euros over the next 30 years [BY BUYING NEW NOW, RATHER THAN LATER]

According to figures prepared by the special commission, the savings in the period up to 2049 as compared with the currently planned procurement of a successor system for the Saab 105OE and the continued operation of the 15 Tranche 1 Eurofighter Typhoons will range from approximately 100 million to 2 billion euros, depending on the option chosen for the new alternative fleet."
["]

So second hand prices for Tranche 1s just crashed through the floor...

[abc123]

and Croats will probably go down that route,.

Nope. 99% is ex-Israeli F-16 Barak... As far as I know, Swedes are trying to sell their 20 years old Gripens C at a price for new ones, with price of support about 20%+ higher than in Swedish Air Force...

[Timmymagic]

Nope. 99% is ex-Israeli F-16 Barak...

They'll be fools if they do. Higher running cost and a fleet that has had the wings flown off it...

penny wise, pound foolish as they say...

[abc123]

Nope. 99% is ex-Israeli F-16 Barak...

They'll be fools if they do. Higher running cost and a fleet that has had the wings flown off it...

penny wise, pound foolish as they say...

As far as I know, Swedes are trying to sell their 20 years old Gripens C at a price for new ones, with price of support about 20%+ higher than in Swedish Air Force...

[Ian Hall]

Ironically the current Chairman of the EU Military Committee comes from......

Perhaps they need Arnie back.