Canards? What about the fuselage?
BERLIN --- Industry has established, in the context of quality controls. that a manufacturing defect has caused a large number of small holes in the rear fuselage of Eurofighter aircraft
The reasons for this are inadequate finishing by the manufacturer BAE Systems.
Since the impact of these problems on the life of the airframe cannot be predicted, a reduction of flight hours recommended by industry was introduced as an additional safety measure. With immediate effect, the service life of the Eurofighter aircraft has been halved, from 3,000 flight hours to 1,500 flight hours.
The manufacturing defect described has, according to industry, no impact on the current flight safety and operational capability of the Eurofighter weapon system. Training and deployment operations continue to be assured.
To avoid any disadvantages and to protect the rights of the Ministry of Defense as a result of this under-performance, acceptance of further aircraft was suspended pending resolution of the commercial aspects of this issue.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: A German air force spokesman told Defense-Aerospace.com Oct. 1 that the problem is caused by splinters that could eventually cause cracks in the airframe.
However, as German Eurofighters will not reach the reduced 1,500-hour lifetime until 2018, the Ministry of Defence is not unduly worried sine the aircraft remain airworthy.
The Eurofighter’s design service life is 6,000 flight hours, and is due to be gradually extended beyond the previous 3,000-hour limit as flight data accumulates.
However, it has suspended all Eurofighter deliveries, and will not resume them until the problem is fully investigated and fixed, the spokesman said.
He added the problem had come to light at the end of last week, when the air force was notified by letter by the manufacturer, Airbus Defence and Space.
Neither BAE Systems nor Eurofighter GmbH had responded to our request for comment by 12:00 GMT today.)
Eurofighter: Air Force Flight Operations Currently Not Affected By Flight Hours Reduction