16:26 GMT, November 17, 2009 Hallbergmoos | Eurofighter GmbH has today signed a five year contract worth more than 600 million Euros with NETMA (NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency) to provide an integrated support solution service to the Italian Air Force’s Typhoon fleet for a period of five years.

The contract work will be led by Eurofighter Partner Company Alenia Aeronautica, who will undertake the job on behalf of Eurofighter GmbH together with its suppliers SELEX Galileo, SELEX Communications and ELETTRONICA.

Eurofighter, its partner companies and suppliers have been working alongside the Italian Ministry of Defence for the past 18 months in a partnered approach to develop an Integrated Supply Chain Management Service (ISCMS) support solution. This collaboration will ensure the best possible performance of the aircraft and will sustain the high operational availability shown by the Typhoon fleet in Italy, delivering substantial cost savings for the customer.

The ISCMS contract, meets the Eurofighter Typhoon requirement to reduce maintenance costs as proposed by the NETMA nations providing the customer with a value for money service based solutions. These include avionic equipment availability, repair of general systems equipment, provision of consumables and the maintenance of aircraft ground equipment. This will lead to a reduction in costs, improved availability of equipment and the transfer of risk to industry; traditionally held by the customer.

This deal draws on best practice and lessons learnt from previous in-service support contracts and underpins the commitment of Eurofighter GmbH, its partner companies and supplier companies to deliver an integrated in-service support solution to the customer Air Forces.

The Contract will support Italian Air Force technical and logistical support activities at the air bases of Grosseto and Gioia del Colle and at 1st RMV, Reparto Manutenzione Velivoli of Cameri, the main logistic base of the Italian Air Force.

Enzo Casolini, Eurofighter CEO said “This contract, similar to the one signed recently to support the Royal Air Force’s Typhoon fleet, is the best example of the commitment from Eurofighter to answer the customer request for a new concept of technical support. Today the Typhoon is a mature platform. The lessons learnt, the excellent performance of the aircraft in service and the high operational availability of the Typhoon fleets has enabled us to evolve our support of logistical activities - a process that will enable us to continually evolve the services we offer both our current customers and future export customers”.

The Italian Typhoons have been ensuring since last summer, on a NATO mandate, that the air space of Albania, a country lacking it’s own aircraft to perform this role, is protected.

The 4th Air Wing operates with two Squadrons - 9 and 20. The latter is an Operational Conversion Unit for the pilots’ transition to the Eurofighter fleet.

On the 21st of June 2009, the Air Wing obtained NATO’s certification to accomplish out-of-area missions in support of peace within the NATO Response Force.