The flaw, which does not prevent the jet from carrying out its missions, was caused by rivet holes in the rear part of the fuselage being incorrectly filed off, a German lawmaker from the Defence Ministry wrote in a letter to the budget committee, seen by Reuters.

Airbus (>> Airbus Group), which is part of the Eurofighter consortium, said the capabilities of the jets were unaffected and they could continue to carry out all missions.

Britain's BAE Systems (>> BAE Systems plc), responsible for manufacturing the jet's rear part, was not immediately available for comment.

A year ago the German government, which has ordered 143 of the jets in total, temporarily stopped taking delivery of Eurofighters after discovering a similar manufacturing problem. It has just received the first two from the third tranche of the order, comprising 31 jets.

(Reporting by Sabine Siebold and Jens Hack; Additional reporting by Tina Bellon and Sarah Young; Writing by Victoria Bryan; Editing by David Holmes)

Stocks treated in this article : Airbus Group, BAE Systems plc