The fifth and sixth Leonardo-built Eurofighter Typhoons for the Kuwait Air Force (KAF) were delivered to Salem Al Sabah Air Base in central Kuwait on September 28.
Executed by both Kuwaiti and Italian personnel from the joint international programme office, 'the delivery saw serials KS001 (test registration CSX7499) and KT006 (test registration CSX55274, which attended the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, UK, in July) leave Leonardo's facility in Turin, northern Italy for the journey east to Kuwait. The Aeronautica Militare (AM, Italian Air Force) provided further support as the two Typhoons were air-to-air refuelled by an AM-operated Boeing KC-767A tanker from 14º Stormo (Wing) during the delivery flight.
Guido Sibona, Vice President of Leonardo’s Eurofighter Programme, said: “We are proud to deliver to our customer two more new Eurofighters, including the first single-seater aircraft. They join the aircraft already in service at the new Salem Al Sabah base which in the meantime have reached the milestone of one hundred air sorties.”
Kuwait is set to receive 28 of the most advanced Eurofighters produced under the European programme providing extra capability with the active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar. Leonardo in cooperation with the AM are providing aircraft, initial training for both air and ground crew, plus the development of infrastructure to aid Typhoon operations and maintain the fleet of Kuwaiti Typhoons.
The growing fleet of Kuwaiti Typhoons add to the number of Eurofighters ordered by a variety of nations. The four original partner countries, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK have a total of 510 Typhoons in service or on order. After adding international customers such as Austria (15), Kuwait (28), Oman (12), Qatar (24) and Saudi Arabia (72) to that tally, there are a total of 661 Typhoons currently in service or on order.
