VIENNA, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The Austrian government is to phase out its controversial and expensive Eurofighter interceptor jets beginning in 2020, Defense Minister Hans Peter Doskozil said on Friday.
It was not confirmed which aircraft model will be purchased as a replacement, Doskozil stating that for now the decision has been made to abandon the Eurofighter jets presently in use.
It was noted, however, that on the back of a recommendation from a special commission the government intends to streamline the aircraft used for its airspace monitoring program from a current two fleets down to one. Doskozil said this will be both cheaper and more effective.
In addition to the Eurofighter planes, Saab 105 model planes are also presently in use, though as an older model in use since 1970 are also to be phased out, in this case by 2020 at the latest.
Chancellor Christian Kern supported the move by Doskozil, who hails from his own Social Democrats party. He said it marks an orderly winding down of the troubled Eurofighter program initiated by the centre-right People's Party and the far-right Freedom Party when the two were in a governing coalition together.
"The plan presented takes into consideration both the security of our country as well as the money of Austrians," he said.
