UAE axes plan to buy Eurofighter Typhoons from BAE Systems

19th Dec 2013 17:54

The United Arab Emirates has ditched talks with arms group BAE Systems and the UK government to buy Eurofighter Typhoon jets.The UAE had "elected not to proceed with these proposals at this time", BAE said in a statement.The UAE had signalled it may order up to 60 Eurofighters, which BAE builds in co-operation with European aerospace giant EADS and Italy's Finmeccanica.The move comes as a shock to the British defence group, which said all parties had been involved in drawing up Typhoon proposals for the UAE."Recognising the risk, scale and complexity of such a transaction, the group had not built this prospect into its planning assumptions," BAE said.It is the latest blow to hit BAE, which has lost out on a $10bn fighter ­contract from India in January last year. India chose the French-made Rafale.The UAE could now turn to Rafale fighter jets, made by France's Dassault Aviation, to replace its ageing French Mirages.BAE stressed it was ready to re-open the negotiations, saying it "stands ready to work with the UAE to address any future requirements."In the same statement, BAE, which failed to pull off a mega-merger with European aerospace giant EADS last year, said it had still not concluded long-running price negotiations with Saudi Arabia about orders for up to 72 Eurofighters."Whilst good progress has been made, a definitive agreement has yet to be reached," it added.It reiterated a warning made earlier this year that a failure to conclude the deal soon could hit its 2013 annual profits.BAE and Saudi Arabia signed a £4.5bn deal in 2007 to supply the Eurofighters to Riyadh, but the two sides have been haggling over the price.PW