Organisational Complexity of the Eurofighter Typhoon Collaborative Supply Chain

The European Union (EU) promotes arms collaboration as a stepping-stone towards the evolution of an integrated European defence technology and industrial base. It will necessarily comprise prime contractors and their attendant supply chains, with the latter particularly important because they repres...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inDefence and peace economics Vol. 34; no. 2; pp. 228 - 243
Main Authors Matthews, Ron, Al-Saadi, Rashid
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Switzerland Routledge 17.02.2023
Taylor & Francis LLC
Subjects
arms collaboration
Assembly lines
Competitiveness
Complexity
defence supply chains
Defense industry
Division of labor
Eurofighter typhoon
Fighter aircraft
juste retour
Military aircraft
Military technology
Policy analysis
Sovereignty
Supply
Supply chains
tempest fighter
Europe
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Summary:The European Union (EU) promotes arms collaboration as a stepping-stone towards the evolution of an integrated European defence technology and industrial base. It will necessarily comprise prime contractors and their attendant supply chains, with the latter particularly important because they represent a refined regional division of labour, promoting efficiencies through skill-based specialisation. Paradoxically, however, Europe's largest military aerospace collaborative venture, the Eurofighter Typhoon, possesses a complex supply chain subject to political and institutional strictures, as well as potential inefficiencies. Partner nations prioritise national sovereignty objectives through duplicated assembly lines and work allocation arrangements based on juste retour (fair share) rather than market-driven competitiveness criteria. The purpose of this paper, then, is to explore Typhoon's supply chain complexity, especially the impact of juste retour policy. The findings from this analysis will highlight important policy issues influencing the future supply chain model of Europe's successor 6th-Generation fighter programme.
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ISSN:1024-2694
1476-8267
DOI:10.1080/10242694.2021.1987022