Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH gets a new CEO
January 7, 2025
Jorge Tamarit Degenhardt has been appointed Chief Executive Officer at Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH, the management company for the Eurofighter Typhoon. He was selected by the shareholders of the Eurofighter consortium and will lead the Company as a member of the Board of Management.
Jorge, a dual Spanish/German national, joins Eurofighter from Airbus Defence & Space, where he has spent the past two decades, rising through the company’s management structure to hold a variety of international executive roles.
Jorge has extensive Eurofighter experience having recently been the Programme Head for Spain, leading all activities related to the Airbus contribution within the Eurofighter consortium, including Spain’s Trache 1 upgrade.
He also led the Airbus C295 India Programme where he oversaw the largest C295 order in history, while establishing India’s first private-sector aerospace and defence end-to-end production system.
Richard Hamilton, Chair of the Eurofighter Supervisory Board, said: “On behalf of the Supervisory Board, we are delighted to welcome Jorge to Eurofighter as the new Chief Executive Officer. Jorge brings significant leadership experience to the Company – from the wider defence industry as well as Eurofighter Programme – which will be of great value as more orders continue to be placed, and more Typhoon aircraft delivered, during the coming decade.”
Jorge himself said that: “I’m extremely proud to join and lead Eurofighter – without question, one of the world’s leading weapons systems – at this critical time for European security and sovereignty. I look forward to working with all our stakeholders to ensure that the Eurofighter programme continues its impressive track record on the order side, and at the same time delivers the state-of-the-art capabilities our Air Forces need in today’s and future combat.”
The appointment follows Eurofighter’s long-established three-year partner company rotation policy.
He is succeeding Italy’s Giancarlo Mezzanatto at helm of Eurofighter GmbH. Mezzanatto will be a hard act to follow, since the ebullient Italian enjoyed considerable sales success (at a time when this was not predicted) and even charmed the aviation press with his openness and easy charm.
Richard Hamilton said: “We also offer sincere thanks to Giancarlo Mezzanatto for his dedication and commitment to Eurofighter during his term as CEO. Giancarlo’s leadership brought many successes to the programme and we wish him the very best on his return to Leonardo.”
Jorge is accompanied on the BoM by Andy Kendall, Chief Operating Officer Programmes (from BAE Systems); Cristiano Montrucchio, Chief Operating Officer Capabilities Sustainment and Future Enhancement (Leonardo SpA); Thomas Reinartz, Chief Financial and Commercial Officer (Airbus Defence & Space), Giammarco Quaglia, Director Business Support (already in post); and Stephan Miegel, Transition Director.
