Premium AEROTEC makes first 3/2b Eurofighter fuselage section in Varel

Premium AEROTEC's Varel plant has successfully started assembling structural components for the Eurofighter. The first 3/2b Eurofighter fuselage section produced in Varel has been delivered to the Augsburg plant, where the entire fuselage centre section will be assembled in a series of further steps. The assembly work now carried out in Varel was previously done at Aircraft Services Lemwerder (ASL), whose military activities were taken over by Premium AEROTEC on 1 January 2011.

The plant in Augsburg has been known for decades as a specialist in the manufacture and assembly of military aircraft. Now, with its facilities in Varel, Premium AEROTEC has a second site active in the sector. The component produced in Varel is a roughly three-metre-long, highly complex fuselage section, to which the wings are later attached.

“The successful launch of assembly in Varel is a vitally important step in developing Premium AEROTEC's military activities. Premium AEROTEC is now responsible for manufacturing the Eurofighter's entire fuselage centre section,” said Joachim Nägele, spokesman of the executive board of management and Head of Programmes and Sales.

“We are glad that the production of this Eurofighter component was so quickly and successfully shifted from Lemwerder to Varel. Our plant is now evolving from a parts manufacturer into a producer of complex assemblies and aerostructures,” said plant manager Uwe Fresenborg.

Premium AEROTEC manufactures the fuselage centre section for all Eurofighter aircraft of the four programme partners (United Kingdom, Spain, Italy and Germany) and the export customers Austria and Saudi Arabia. This makes Premium AEROTEC the largest supplier of structures for the Eurofighter.

Premium AEROTEC GmbH has more than 6,000 employees and generated revenues of 1.1 billion euros in 2009. Its core business is the development and manufacturing of metal and carbon composite aerostructures and the associated equipment and production systems. The company has production plants in Augsburg, Bremen, Nordenham and Varel in Germany, and in Ghimbav, Braşov County, Romania.