Austria's defence ministry will sue European giant Airbus over alleged corruption and bribery linked to a controversial sale of Eurofighter jets, an official said Thursday.

"We will file a lawsuit against Airbus," defence ministry spokesman Michael Bauer told AFP. 

He said the findings of a government investigation into the 2003 purchase of 15 fighter jets worth 1.7 billion euros ($1.8 billion) will be presented later on Thursday morning.