Germany dismisses report on Eurofighter order cut

BERLIN, March 9 (Reuters) - Germany on Monday rejected a newspaper report that said it wanted to cut back its order for a final batch of Eurofighter jets.

German business daily Handelsblatt reported in its Monday edition that Germany wanted to halve the size of its order for a third tranche of the aircraft.

"There isn't any talk about halving the third tranche," a Defence Ministry spokesman told a regular government news conference, adding: "For operational reasons, Germany still requires 180 Eurofighters."

However, the spokesman said the countries participating in the Eurofighter project -- Germany, Spain, Britain and Italy -- were discussing splitting the third tranche into two parts.

Under the original plan, Germany, Italy, Spain and Britain would have received the third batch of 236 aircraft between 2012 and 2017. Of the 236 fighters, 68 were intended for Germany.

The Eurofighter consortium includes Britain's BAE Systems BA.L, Airbus parent EADS (EAD.PA) and Alenia, a unit of Italy's Finmeccanica (SIFI.MI). The aircraft engines are made by Rolls Royce (RR.L), MTU Aero Engines (MTXGn.DE) and ITP. (Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Erica Billingham)