Leonardo has delivered the first two of 28 Eurofighter Typhoon swing-role combat aircraft to the Kuwaiti Air Force.
The delivery was marked with a ceremony that took place on 14 December at the Caselle air base in Turin, Italy.
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The two Kuwaiti Eurofighters flew from Italy, where they were assembled, with a refuelling escort provided by two Italian air force KC-767 tankers.
Two Grosseto 4th Squadron Eurofighters of Italy also provided an escort.
In September 2015, Kuwait signed an agreement with Italy to procure 28 Eurofighter Typhoons to strengthen the country’s military capabilities.
Italian Defence Minister Lorenzo Guerini said: “This is an excellent operation for Italy, demonstrating the success of Italian products abroad and an important step towards consolidating the position of Italian industry in the world.
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By GlobalData“Defence is a stimulus for the development of innovative and increasingly advanced technological solutions.”
In a statement, Leonardo said Kuwait pilots were training at the Italian Air Force’s 20th Group of the 4th Squadron at Grosseto in central Italy.
In addition, Leonardo test pilots and instructors from the Italian air service will support the initial training of Kuwaiti pilots and the operational conversion unit (OCU) at Kuwait’s Al Salem base.
Leonardo CEO Alessandro Profumo said: “The Eurofighter Typhoons we have developed and produced for the Kuwait Air Force are the most advanced in the whole history of the European programme.
“We will provide the country with an impressive air defence capability. In cooperation with the Italian Air Force we trained their pilots in our training centres in Italy, we built state-of-the-art infrastructures to support and maintain a fleet of 28 aircraft.
“The milestones we are celebrating today is the result of the effective cooperation between the two countries, where institutions, armed forces and industry have worked together in synergy.”
