Eurofighter successor

The next government faces a huge challenge

Our ageing Eurofighter fleet must be replaced by 2037. With the long decision-making, production and training processes, the course must already be set in the next legislative period.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Mader / Archiv)

Last week, around 250,000 Airpower visitors cheered on the air forces of the Austrian Armed Forces with temperatures of up to 33 degrees, pithy Top Gun music and cold beer. The next federal government will be less euphoric about the issue.

In all likelihood, it will have to make the hated successor decision. Our "old" Eurofighters from the first series are to remain in the air until 2037. However, the first successors would have to arrive by 2034 at the latest in order to be able to replace them in an orderly fashion. Which in turn presupposes that the purchase agreement is finally signed in 2029 - in other words, in the next election year. Note: finally signed. Which jet it will be, in what configuration and with what armament, the number of units and the training modalities - all this must be decided in the years beforehand, aviation expert Georg Mader calculates in the "Krone" interview.

A quarter of a million people were enthusiastic about fighter planes in Zeltweg at the weekend.(Bild: Sepp Pail)

But there is more: the next coalition partners will have to deal with the question of what we actually want for the coming decades. Do we still want a minimalist air police system that only checks civilian aircraft that have lost radio contact? Or a system that retains air superiority even in a warlike climate, can support ground troops or even hit supply lines of deploying enemies behind the front line?

Expensive, unpleasant questions 
This fundamental decision immediately raises the next question: will we have to better protect the next jets on the ground with structural measures at airports? Against drones, for example? Do we need alternative landing sites on sections of highway, as is the case in Sweden or Switzerland? And shouldn't pilots also train more often and therefore fly more hours than before? These are expensive questions that the upcoming coalition will have to answer.

Although all parties are committed to higher investment in the bankrupt armed forces, "we have been lulled into a false sense of security", even SPÖ spokesman Robert Laimer said in the spring. But even he, and the Greens in particular, are skeptical about the army's ever-lengthening "shopping list".

The Swiss way: bunker in the mountain for the F-18 fleet, which is being replaced by F-35s(Bild: Schweizer Luftwaffe)

Debate about Eurofighter successor has begun
The "star" of Airpower at the weekend, the US-made F-35A, is also causing discussion. The ultra-modern stealth aircraft, which is currently being procured by more and more neighboring countries such as the Czech Republic and Switzerland, is also being traded as a secret Eurofighter successor in Austria. Whether Austria needs a highly complex attack aircraft designed for strategic bombing and battlefield interdiction far behind enemy lines, among other things, is controversial. The Swiss argue that the procurement of the attack aircraft would not "kick down anyone's door" (quote from Peter Merz, head of the Swiss Air Force), but that they want to use the superior sensor technology to better reconnoitre the enemy.

It could get dirty: SPÖ election poster from the 2006 election campaign(Bild: Archiv, Krone KREATIV)

If you ask around among Bundesheer pilots, some of them are in favor of a new Eurofighter version, such as Tranche 4 or even 5 (Tranche 1 is currently flying in Austria). The retraining costs for pilots and technicians would be low and the logistics would be available. This could mean for the next legislative period: Alfred Gusenbauer's "social fighter instead of Eurofighter" posters will return.