BAE Systems woman becomes first chairman of Eurofighter Supervisory Board

Andrea Thompson, managing director of BAE Systems’ Europe and International business, which runs BAE’s role in the project, will chair the supervisory board of the consortium.

She will play a leading role in the delivery of major upgrades to the aircraft backed by its four partner nations which aim to keep it as a mainstay of air defence.

She is the first female to be appointed chairman of the board which she was part of under former chairman Kurt Rossner of Airbus Defence and Space.

The board is made up of representatives of Eurofighter’s three partners, Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo, representing Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom.

Andrea said: "This is an exciting time to be taking up this role as we continue to develop the capability of Eurofighter Typhoon to ensure its role as the backbone of air defence for decades to come.

"Eurofighter Typhoon now benefits from a clear roadmap, agreed with the Eurofighter partner nations, which takes us towards the end of the decade - all of which builds on a series of capability enhancements, together with further aircraft acquisition from the German Air Force to continue the aircraft’s capability journey.

"Through the strength of European collaboration, we were delighted to see the first aircraft arrive in Kuwait last year and are preparing to deliver the first jets to Qatar later this year, so there is a lot of work to do now and in the future."

Andrea is joined by Carlo Mancusi, a senior executive at Leonardo, who has taken over as Eurofighter chief executive and Andy Eddleston, who has been named as chief operating officer (Capabilities) having joined from BAE Systems.

Andrea joined BAE Systems in 2016 when she was appointed Senior Vice-President of its US Programmes business before being promoted to run its Europe and International business.

She was previously executive vice president at Rolls-Royce and the first female managing director of Leyland Trucks, one of the UK’s leading automotive manufacturers.