INDUSTRY TEAMINGS
05 Nov 07. Italy Pitches Romania Eurofighter Offset. Italy has boosted its Eurofighter sales campaign in Romania by suggesting it could buy a local aeronautics firm and turn it into a Typhoon logistics center or even an assembly line. Alenia Aeronautica, the Italian industrial partner in the four-nation combat jet program, took over marketing duties in Romania a year ago. In October, Alenia’s parent company Finmeccanica issued a letter of interest about the privatization of local firm Avioane Craiova, which has built jet trainers. “This interest forms part of a possible offset offer,” said Enzo Casolini, Alenia’s senior vice president for military programs, “although we would need to do a survey of the facilities to look at the possibility of creating logistics activities.” Romania is mulling the purchase of 24 or 48 fighters, with a decision possible next year. Expected contenders include the Eurofighter Typhoon; the Gripen, built by Saab of Sweden; and the F-16, manufactured by U.S. firm Lockheed Martin. The Eurofighter industrial consortium, which teams firms from Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain, pitched its product in October at Romania’s Expomil event, where it claimed Romania could even have its first operational squadron up and running by 2010. (Source: Defense News)