Roll out of the First Italian built Tanche 3 Eurofighter Typhoon.

The first new standard Eurofighter Typhoon built in Italy has rolled out from the Turin-Caselle Plant. The latest Alenia Aermacchi production Eurofighter Typhoon, known as Tranche 3, represents a major achievement in the evolution of the world's leading combat aircraft.

The Tranche 3 standard embodies a number of changes that effectively enhance the aircraft's performance and which allow for future upgrades making it more attractive to current and potential export customers.

The first Italian Tranche 3 has been produced for the Italian Air Force by the Eurofighter Partner Companies and assembled by Alenia Aermacchi. The Italian single seat aircraft no.64 is now ready for engine tests at Turin-Caselle and will be delivered within the first half of this year.

Under the Tranche 3A contract signed in 2009, a total of 112 aircraft have been ordered for the four European partner nations of Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, with 21 aircraft bound for the Italian Air Force.

Alessandra Saroglia, Alenia Aermacchi Eurofighter programme manager, said: "The first Eurofighter Tranche 3 is a major stepping stone in our production programme. 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."

Alberto Gutierrez, Chief Executiove Officer of Eurofighter, said: "The Eurofighter programme continues to build momemtum while serving our customers' air forces. Ours is a story of intelligent evolution built around listening to the needs of our customers and then delivering against those needs. Our Tranche 3 aircraft will be the most potent yet offering unmatched flexibility at a time when every asset has to prove that it can earn its place day in and day out."