The 500th Eurofighter Typhoon multirole fighter produced was recently delivered to the Italian Air Force. Eurofighter Typhoon is NATO's premier dual role air superiority and ground attack aircraft.
The occasion was marked by a special ceremony held at the Turin site of Leonardo Aircraft Division (formerly Alenia Aermacchi) which developed the Typhoon in 1983 along with France's Airbus Group, and BAE Systems from the United Kingdom.
The Typhoon, which is currently flown by the air forces of eight countries, made its combat debut during the 2011 military intervention in Libya that saw the Royal Air Force and the Italian Air Force attack ISIS targets on the ground while conducting reconnaissance missions.
The Typhoon is called the Eurofighter precisely because it was developed by a consortium of European countries consisting of Italy, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Spain. It was developed in 1983 as part of the "Future European Fighter Aircraft" (FEFA) program. The maiden flight of the Eurofighter prototype took place in Bavaria on March 27, 1994.
Eurofighter Typhoon is Europe's largest military collaborative program strengthening the European aerospace and defense.
Eurofighter Typhoon is now so well developed, it's being billed as "the world's most advanced swing-role combat aircraft providing simultaneously deployable Air-to-Air and Air-to-Surface capabilities."
Lt. Gen. Gabriele Salvestroni, Logistic Commander of the Italian Air Force, took delivery of the 500th aircraft in the presence of Filippo Bagnato, Leonardo Aircraft Division's Managing Director; Volker Paltzo, CEO of Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug; Peter Schmidt, Deputy General Manager of NETMA and representatives from the Eurofighter partner nations and partner companies.
The first Eurofighter was delivered to the Royal Air Force at the end of 2003. The 100th Eurofighter was delivered to the UK Royal Air Force in September 2006.
The 200th aircraft was handed over to the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) in November 2009. The 300th aircraft was delivered to the Spanish Air Force in October 2011, and the 400th to the Luftwaffe in December 2013.
"The 500 strong Eurofighter Typhoon fleet represents one of the largest and most capable fighter fleets in the western hemisphere and will be the backbone of European airpower for decades to come," said Paltzo.
"We are very proud to deliver the 500th Eurofighter Typhoon produced to the Italian Air Force<' according to Bagnato.
"The Eurofighter Typhoon is the largest collaborative industrial program in Europe. It is a successful and significant contributor to the nation's economic well-being, employing high-skilled workers and generating thousands of high-value manufacturing and engineering jobs.
"We are now fully committed to completing deliveries to the Italian Air Force, to develop the capabilities of the aircraft, and to the activities envisaged by Kuwait's contract while continuing to pursue a number of significant market opportunities around the world."