Eurofighter reported "exceptional interest" at Farnborough International Air Show.

Gutierrez, who has headed the German-based consortium for just over a year, said: “This year’s event was an exceptionally busy one for us. We showcased a new radar system, we hit the 250,000 flying hours milestone for our fleet, and we signed a major missile integration contract. On top of this we had high levels of interest from a series of international delegations who wanted to see what we had to offer. All in all it could hardly have been a better week.”

Eurofighter world-premiered its new Captor-E AESA radar system on a development aircraft at the Show – a powerful new electronic radar which offers instantaneous performance and the widest field of view of any fighter jet radar currently on the market.

It also signed a contract to integrate the Storm Shadow long-range stand-off missile onto the fighter jet – something which, when combined with the new radar capability and the Typhoon’s overall performance will give the Eurofighter a significant competitive advantage.

“What was really good,” said the CEO,” was that one of our key customers, the Royal Air Force, hit the 100,000 flying hours mark with the Eurofighter during the Show and we reached 250,000 flying hours in total across the worldwide fleet. Our partners Eurojet, who provide the twin EJ200 engines for the Eurofighter were then, of course, able to celebrate half a million flying hours. It was an exceptional week for an exceptional aircraft.”

Eurofighter has now delivered 412 Eurofighter Typhoons to six nations and has a seventh signed up. The Company recently completed a major software and systems upgrade on the aircraft which it claims offers a ‘paradigm shift’ in capability.

The core nations that created the Eurofighter Programme are the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Spain. While all four are customers for the aircraft, which forms the backbone of their airpower, other customers include Austria, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and latterly The Sultanate of Oman.

Gutierrez said: “We are currently in active talks with a number of other nations, both in Europe and further afield. What we were able to prove at the Farnborough Air Show, is that when we say we deliver – we deliver. The task now is to build on these new capabilities which are being actively tested and proved as we speak. I believe this is a turning point for the Eurofighter Programme and one that we will be able to look back on and be proud of.”