someone, somewhere appears to rattling some journos' cages.... .-------------
The Times. .February 14, 2002
Eurofighter cost to UK taxpayers jumps to £21.5bn. .By Michael Evans, Defence Editor. . . .THE cost to British taxpayers of the Eurofighter combat aircraft programme has jumped to £21.5 billion, according to the latest Ministry of Defence estimate. . .The increase caused astonishment among Opposition MPs. James Gray, the Conservative defence spokesman, intends to ask the Government for an explanation.
The sharp rise was disclosed as the MoD agreed that there was going to be a further slippage in the Eurofighter handover date. The first production version should have been ready in August last year, but now is not expected until next month. Handover of the first Eurofighter to the RAF will not be until July or later.
The RAF is to buy 232 of the multirole aircraft which have been developed by a consortium from Britain, Germany, Spain and Italy.
The cost of the programme announced in 1998 when the order for the Eurofighters was confirmed, was £15.9 billion, making it the most expensive equipment project embarked on by the MoD. The previous most costly programmes were the Tornado aircraft, at about £12 billion, also involving European collaboration, and the construction of four Trident ballistic missile submarines for £10 billion.
The increasing cost of the Eurofighter has been monitored by the National Audit Office in its annual MoD major projects report. The latest figure of £21.5 billion, which was confirmed by an MoD official, has been passed to the audit office, although it will not be made public until next month in the annual major projects report.
The audit office and the ministry said that the big rise in the overall cost of the programme was due to a new accounting method. That included an estimate of inflation for the whole period in which the Eurofighters were being produced.
The Defence Ministry official said that the last Eurofighter would come off the production line in 2014. The figure of £21.5 billion, he said, was based on the current estimate of inflation throughout that period.
An audit office official said that the last figure the office had received from the MoD and published in a report was £18.8 billion. However, he said, the figure had gone “unnoticed”. He said the new accounting method, which included an assessment of likely depreciation, was a more honest way of presenting the cost of a huge programme such as the Eurofighter project.
Mr Gray said Eurofighter was a Cold War aircraft. “But we’ve got it for the next 50-odd years and it’s vital that the MoD stops the cost from spiralling.”
Paul Keetch, Liberal Democrat defence spokesman, said: “Parliament must be told why the cost has risen so much.”. . . .--------------------------------------------. .I concur with Beags, Gripen might not be as capable on paper but surely better to have an effective, functional aircraft than one which won't acheive its full potential until some distant unspecified date...
just my 2 pence worth