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Alenia Aermacchi completes first Tranche 3 Eurofighter

A Eurofighter Typhoon takes to the sky during the 49th International Paris Air Show at Le Bourget near Paris on June 20, 2011. UPI/David Silpa
A Eurofighter Typhoon takes to the sky during the 49th International Paris Air Show at Le Bourget near Paris on June 20, 2011. UPI/David Silpa | License Photo

TURIN, Italy, March 4 (UPI) -- Alenia Aermacchi's first Tranche 3 Eurofighter Typhoon for the Italian Air Force has been rolled out of a company plant, the company reports.

Eurofighter is a multi-role combat aircraft and is produced by a European consortium consisting of Alenia Aermacchi/Finmeccanica, BAE Systems and Cassidian in Germany and Spain.

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The Tranche 3 model of the aircraft is the latest model of the plane, featuring enhanced performance and capability to accommodate future upgrades.

Italy, Germany, Britain and Spain have ordered a total of 112 Tranche 3 aircraft, with 21 of them earmarked for the Italian Air Force.

"The first Eurofighter Tranche 3 is a major stepping stone in our production program," said Alessandra Saroglia, Alenia Aermacchi Eurofighter program manager. "The aircraft embodies a number of changes with respect to previous production tranches making it even more operationally capable and also a series of provisions allowing it to take on additional capability in the future. For example, the Tranche 3 aircraft has been built with power, cooling and electronics to allow for the fitting of the new E-Scan radar."

Alenia Aermacchi said Tuesday the first Tranche 3 plane for Italy will now undergo engine tests. Its delivery to the Italian Air Force will take place in the first half of this year.

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