Eurofighter Typhoon

This article is about a fighter aircraft. For the computer game, see Eurofighter Typhoon (computer game).

"EF2000" redirects here. For the computer game, see EF2000 (computer game).

The Eurofighter Typhoon is a twin-engine multi-role canard-delta strike fighter aircraft. It was designed and is built by a consortium Alenia Aeronautica, BAE Systems and EADS through Eurofighter GmbH which was formed in 1986. As early as 1979, studies began into what would become the Eurofighter Typhoon.

The series production of the Eurofighter Typhoon is now underway. The aircraft has entered service with the German Luftwaffe (Jagdgeschwader 74), Italian Air Force, Spanish Air Force, and the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force. Austria has purchased 15 Typhoons and Saudi Arabia has signed a GB£4.43 billion (approx. €6.4 billion c. 2007) contract for 72 aircraft.

Development

See also: Eurofighter Typhoon timeline.

File:Eurofighter logo.svg

Official Eurofighter logo.

The United Kingdom had identified a requirement for a new fighter as early as 1971. A specification, AST 403, issued by the Air Staff in 1972, resulted in a conventional "tailed" design known as P.96, which was presented in the late 1970s. While the design would have met the Air Staff's requirements, the UK air industry had reservations as it appeared to be very similar to the F/A-18 Hornet, which was then well advanced in its development. It had little potential for future growth, and when it entered production it would secure few exports in a market in which the Hornet would be well established. Simultaneously, by 1979 the West German requirement for a new fighter had led to the development of the TFK-90 concept. This was a cranked delta wing design with forward canard controls and artificial stability. Although the British Aerospace designers rejected some of its advanced features such as vectoring engine nozzles and vented trailing-edge controls, they agreed with the overall configuration.

In 1979 British Aerospace and Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm presented a formal proposal to their respective governments for the ECF, the European Collaborative Fighter or European Combat Fighter. In October 1979 Dassault joined the ECF team for a tri-national study, which became known as the European Combat Aircraft. It was at this stage of development that the Eurofighter name was first attached to the aircraft. The development of different national prototypes continued. France produced the ACX. The UK produced two designs. The P.106 was a single-engined "lightweight" fighter, superficially resembling the Saab Gripen, the P.110 was a twin-engined fighter. The P.106 concept was rejected by the RAF, on the grounds that it had "half the effectiveness of the two-engined aircraft at two thirds of the cost". West Germany continued to refine the TFK-90 concept. The ECA project collapsed in 1981 for several reasons including differing requirements, Dassault's insistence on "design leadership" and the British preference for a new version of the RB199 to power the aircraft versus the French preference for the new SNECMA M88.

As a result the Panavia partners (BAe, MBB and Aeritalia) launched the Agile Combat Aircraft (ACA) programme in April 1982. The ACA was very similar to the BAe P.110, having a cranked delta wing, canards and a twin tail. One major external difference was the replacement of the side mounted engine intakes with a chin intake. The ACA was to be powered by a modified version of the RB199. The UK Ministry of Defence agreed to fund 50% of the cost with the remaining 50% to be provided industry. MBB and Aeritalia signed up with the aim of producing two aircraft, one at Warton and one by MBB. In May 1983 BAe announced a contract with the MoD for the development and production of an ACA demonstrator, the Experimental Aircraft Programme.

In 1983 the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain launched the Future European Fighter Aircraft (FEFA) programme. The aircraft was to have Short Take Off and Landing (STOL) and Beyond Visual Range (BVR) capabilities. In 1984 France reiterated its requirement for a carrier-capable version and demanded a leading role. The UK, West Germany and Italy opted out and established a new EFA programme.

In Turin on 2 August 1985 Italy, West Germany and the UK agreed to go ahead with the Eurofighter. The announcement of this agreement confirmed that France, along with Spain, had chosen not to proceed as a member of the project. Despite pressure from France, Spain rejoined the Eurofighter project in early September 1985. France officially withdrew from the project to pursue its own ACX project, which was to become the Dassault Rafale.

Eurofighter Typhoon T1 of the Royal Air Force. The dark patch in the centre of the fuselage is the exhaust of the Auxiliary Power Unit.

Also in 1985 the BAe EAP was rolled out at BAe Warton, by this time also funded by MBB and BAe itself. The EAP first flew on 6 August 1986. The Eurofighter bears a strong resemblance to the EAP. Design work continued over the next five years using data from the EAP. Initial requirements were: UK 250 aircraft, Germany 250, Italy 165, and Spain 100. The share of the production work was divided among the countries in proportion to their projected procurement - British Aerospace (33%), DASA (33%), Aeritalia (21%), and Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA (CASA) (13%).

1986 also saw the establishment of the Munich based Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH to manage development of the project and EuroJet Turbo GmbH, the alliance of Rolls-Royce, MTU Aero Engines, FiatAvio (now Avio) and ITP for development of the EJ200.

By 1990 the selection of the aircraft's radar had become a major stumbling block. The UK, Italy and Spain supported the Ferranti Defence Systems-led ECR-90, while Germany preferred the APG-65 based MSD2000 (a collaboration between Hughes (of the USA), AEG and GEC-Marconi). An agreement was reached after UK Defence Secretary Tom King assured his West German counterpart Gerhard Stoltenberg that the British government would underwrite the project and allow GEC to acquire Ferranti Defence Systems from its troubled parent. GEC thus withdrew its support for the MSD2000.

Development Aircraft programme

The maiden flight of the Eurofighter prototype took place on 27 March 1994 (then just known as the Eurofighter EF 2000). Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm chief test pilot Peter Weger took the prototype on a test flight around Bavaria. The 1990s saw significant arguments over work share, the specification of the aircraft and even participation in the project.

In May 2007, Eurofighter Development Aircraft 5 made the first flight with the CAESAR (CAPTOR Active Electronically Scanning Array Radar) demonstrator system , a development of the Euroradar CAPTOR incorporating Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) technology.

The Eurofighter Typhoon was tested in Vidsel, Sweden where it was exposed to extreme weather conditions (down to -31˚C).

When developed, the production version of the CAPTOR-E radar is being proposed as part of Tranche 3 of the Typhoon from 2012. Tranche 2 aircraft use the non AESA, mechanically scanned Captor-M which incorporates weight and space provisions for possible upgrade to CAESAR (AESA) standard in the future.

Production

The first production contract was signed on 30 January 1998 between Eurofighter GmbH, Eurojet and NETMA. The procurement totals were as follows: UK 232, Germany 180, Italy 121, and Spain 87. Production was again allotted according to procurement: British Aerospace (37%), DASA (29%), Aeritalia (19.5%), and CASA (14%).

On 2 September 1998 a naming ceremony was held at Farnborough, England. This saw the Typhoon name formally adopted, however initially for export aircraft only. This was reportedly resisted by Germany; The Hawker Typhoon was a fighter-bomber aircraft which served with the RAF during the Second World War against German targets. In September 1998 contracts were signed for production of 148 Tranche 1 aircraft and procurement of long lead-time items for Tranche 2 aircraft.

Costs increases

The cost of the Eurofighter project has increased from original estimates. The cost of the UK's aircraft has increased from £7 billion to £19 billion and the in-service date (2003; defined as the date of delivery of the first aircraft to the RAF) was 54 months late. The UK's commitment to its 88 Tranche 3 aircraft has been questioned. A study commissioned by Eurofighter PR & Communications Office argues that the cost increases and delays of the Eurofighter programme compare favourably with that of the F-22 (14% over budget and 54 months late versus 127% over budget and 117 months late) or other defence projects such as the United Kingdom's Astute class submarines which was 35% over budget and 43 months late.

Delays

Political

In late-1990 it became apparent that the German government was not happy about continuing with the project. The Luftwaffe was tasked to find alternative solutions including looking at cheaper implementations of Eurofighter. The German concerns over Eurofighter came to a head in July 1992 when they announced their decision to leave the project. However, on insistence of the German government sometime earlier, all partners had signed binding commitments to the project and found themselves unable to withdraw.

In 1995 concerns over workshare appeared. Since the formation of Eurofighter the workshare split had been agreed at the 33/33/21/13 (United Kingdom/Germany/Italy/Spain) based on the number of units being ordered by each contributing nation. However, all the nations then reduced their orders. The UK cut its orders from 250 to 232, Germany from 250 to 180, Italy from 165 to 121 and Spain from 100 to 87. According to these order levels the workshare split should have been 39/24/22/15 UK/Germany/Italy/Spain, Germany was however unwilling to give up such a large amount of work. In January 1996 after much negotiation between UK and German partners, a compromise was reached whereby Germany would take another 40 aircraft from 2012. The workshare split is now 43% for EADS MAS in Germany and Spain; 37.5% BAE Systems in the UK; and 19.5% for Alenia in Italy.

The next major milestone came at the Farnborough Airshow in September 1996. The UK announced the funding for the construction phase of the project. In November 1996 Spain confirmed its order but Germany again delayed its decision. After much diplomatic activity between the UK and Germany, an interim funding arrangement of DM 100 million (€ 51 million) was contributed by the German government in July 1997 to continue flight trials. Further negotiation finally resulted in German approval to purchase the Eurofighter in October 1997.

Technical

On 21 November 2002, DA-6, the Spanish two-seater prototype crashed due to an engine problem. The problem was said to be specifically related to the experimental trial standard of engine being used by that aircraft. On 16 January 2006 an RAF Typhoon T1 made an emergency landing at RAF Coningsby. The nosewheel failed to deploy, via either the normal or emergency systems. The aircraft landed on the main gear and used aerodynamic braking whilst simultaneously deploying the brake chute. The nose was then gently lowered, minimising the damage to the aircraft. The pilots vacated the aircraft once a suitable ladder was positioned next to the aircraft. The RAF Typhoon T1 has now been returned to service.

Production

Eurofighter Typhoon F2, RAF single seat fighter variant.

A Luftwaffe 2-seated trainer version of the Eurofighter.

The Eurofighter Typhoon is unique in modern combat aircraft in that there are four separate assembly lines. Each partner company assembles its own national aircraft, but builds the same parts of all 620 aircraft.

• Alenia Aeronautica – Left wing, outboard flaperons, rear fuselage sections
• BAE Systems – Front fuselage (including foreplanes), canopy, dorsal spine, tail fin, inboard flaperons, rear fuselage section
• EADS Deutschland – Main centre fuselage
• EADS CASA – Right wing, leading edge slats

Production is divided into three "tranches" (see table below) with an incremental increase in capability with each tranche. Tranches are further divided up into batches and blocks, eg the RAF's Tranche one twin seaters are batch 1 T1s and batch 2 T1As.

Expected Production Summary

Country	Tranche 1	Tranche 2	Tranche 3	Total
Austria	15	0	0	15
Germany	44	68	68	180
Italy	29	46	46	121
Saudi Arabia	0	48	24	72
Spain	20	33	34	87
United Kingdom	55	89	88	232
TOTAL	157	284	260	707

_{*In addition to 9 new Tranche 1 aircraft, Austria will receive 6 used Tranche 1 planes for a total of 15 Typhoons.}

Exports

Countries operating or ordering the Eurofighter Typhoon.

In 1999, the Greek government agreed to acquire 60 Typhoons in order to replace its existing second-generation combat aircraft. However, the purchase was put on hold due to budget constraints, largely driven by other development programs and the need to cover the cost of the 2004 Summer Olympics. In June 2006 the government announced a 22 billion euro multi-year acquisition plan intended to provide the necessary budgetary framework to enable the purchase of a next-generation fighter over the next 10 years. The Typhoon is currently under consideration to fill this requirement.

On July 2 2002, the Austrian government announced the decision to buy the Typhoon as its new air defence aircraft. The purchase of 18 Typhoons was finalised on July 1 2003, and included 18 aircraft, training for pilots and ground crew, logistics, maintenance, and a simulator. The future of this order has recently been questioned in the Austrian parliament. On June 26 2007, Austrian Minister for Defense Norbert Darabos has announced a reduction to fifteen aircraft. On July 12 2007, the first of 15 Eurofighters was delivered to Austria and formally entered service in the Austrian Air Force.

After unsuccessful campaigns in South Korea and Singapore, on 18 August 2006 it was announced that Saudi Arabia had agreed to purchase 72 Typhoons. In November and December it was reported that Saudi Arabia had threatened to buy French Rafales because of a UK Serious Fraud Office investigation into the Al Yamamah defence deals which commenced in the 1980s. However on 14 December 2006 it was announced that the Serious Fraud Office was "discontinuing" its investigation into BAE. It stated that representations to its Director and the Attorney General had lead to the conclusion that the wider public interest "to safeguard national and international security" outweighed any potential benefits of further investigation. The Times has raised the possibility that RAF production aircraft will be diverted as early Saudi Arabian aircraft, with the service forced to wait for its full complement of aircraft. This arrangement would mirror the diversion of RAF Tornados to the RSAF. However The Times has also reported that such an arrangement will make the UK purchase of its tranche 3 commitments more likely. On 17 September 2007 Saudi Arabia confirmed it had signed a GB£4.43 billion contract for 72 aircraft.

In March 2007, Jane's Information Group reported that the Typhoon was the favourite to win the contest for Japan's next-generation fighter requirement. Currently the other competitors are the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and F-15E Strike Eagle.

Other potential customers of the Typhoon are Bulgaria, India, Denmark, Norway, Pakistan, Japan, and Romania.

Variants

Main article: Eurofighter Typhoon variants

Eurofighter Typhoon prototype on display at Dubai Air Show 1998. Note the multiple roundels for the air forces: (left to right) Spanish Ejército del Aire, Italian Aeronautica Militare, British Royal Air Force, and German Luftwaffe.

The Eurofighter has so far been produced in three major versions; seven Development Aircraft (DA), five production standard Instrumented Production Aircraft (IPA) for further system development and Series Production Aircraft. These Series Production Aircraft are the aircraft now operational with the partner air forces.

The Tranche 1 aircraft were produced from 2000 onwards. Aircraft capabilities are being increased incrementally, with each software upgrade resulting in a different standard, known as blocks. With the introduction of the Block 5 standard, the R2 retrofit programme began to bring all aircraft to that standard.

Block 1

Block 2

Initial air-to-air capabilites.

Block 2B

Full air-to-air capabilites.

Block 5

Full Operational Capability (FOC) by combining existing air-to-air role with air-to-ground capabilities.

Design

Canards, lightweight construction (>70% carbon fibre composites) and the relaxed stability design with a quadruplex digital control system providing artificial stability, allow superior agility both at supersonic speed and at very low speed. The fly-by-wire system is described as "carefree" by preventing the pilot from exceeding the permitted manoevre envelope.

The German air force pilots of the Typhoon wear an improved G-suit called "Libelle" (Dragonfly) Multi G Plus.

Although the Typhoon cannot be called a stealth fighter, measures were taken to reduce its radar cross section, especially from the frontal aspect. The aircraft achieves high agility by having relaxed stability. Therefore it requires a fly-by-wire system, as manual operation alone could not compensate for the inherent instability. It also has very short take-off and landing capabilities.

It is important to note that, unlike for many previous fast jets, the design of the cockpit has proceeded on the basis of involving the user (i.e. test and operational pilots from each of the four partner Nations) in the process at the earliest possible stage (e.g. feasibility and concept) and has progressed on the basis of four nation consensus. This has necessitated the use of specially commissioned lighting and display moding simulation facilities and the extensive employment of rapid prototyping techniques.

Performance

Take off

The Typhoon's combat performance compared to the new F-22 Raptor and the upcoming F-35 fighter under development in the United States and the Dassault Rafale developed in France, has been the subject of much discussion.

In March 2005, United States Air Force Chief of Staff General John P. Jumper, then the only person to have flown both the Eurofighter Typhoon and the Raptor, talked to Air Force Print News about these two aircraft. He said that "the Eurofighter is both agile and sophisticated, but is still difficult to compare to the F/A-22 Raptor. They are different kinds of airplanes to start with; it's like asking us to compare a NASCAR car with a Formula 1 car. They are both exciting in different ways, but they are designed for different levels of performance."

Further, "The Eurofighter is certainly, as far as smoothness of controls and the ability to pull (and sustain high G forces), very impressive," he said. "That is what it was designed to do, especially the version I flew, with the avionics, the color moving map displays, etc. -- all absolutely top notch. The maneuverability of the airplane in close-in combat was also very impressive."

Jumper also went on to say in comparing the two aircraft "The F/A-22 Raptor has stealth and supercruise," he said. "It has the ability to penetrate virtually undetected because of (those) capabilities. It is designed to be a penetrating airplane. It can maneuver with the best of them if it has to, but what you want to be able to do is get into contested airspace no matter where it is."

The Typhoon is capable of supersonic cruise without using afterburner. According to the official German Luftwaffe website, the maximum speed possible without reheat is Mach 1.2.

In 2002, the MBDA Meteor was selected as the long range air-to-air missile armament of Eurofighter Typhoon. Pending Meteor availability, Typhoon will be equipped with the Raytheon AMRAAM. The current in-service date for Meteor is predicted to be August 2012.

Air-to-ground capabilities

The plane's cockpit

Typhoon has always been planned to be a swing role tactical fighter with robust air-to-ground capabilities. However the RAF's urgent air-to-ground requirement has driven the integration of an "austere" air to ground capability, based on the Rafael/Ultra Electronics Litening III laser designator and the Enhanced Paveway II G/LGB, earlier than was originally planned. A more comprehensive air-to-ground attack capability will be achieved for all partner nations later in the decade. The RAF's capability will now be available in the Block 5 aircraft delivered at the end of Tranche 1 and, by retrofit, on all Tranche 1 jets.

The absence of such a capability is believed to have been a factor in the type's rejection from Singapore's fighter competition in 2005. When the Typhoon was dropped from the final shortlist the Singaporean Ministry of Defence commented that: "the committed schedule for the delivery of the Typhoon and its systems did not meet the requirements of the RSAF." Flight Daily News reported that Singapore was concerned about delivery timescales and by the Eurofighter partner nations' inability to accurately and finally define the content of the Tranche 2 and Tranche 3 Typhoon capability packages. Singapore needed Tranche 2 capabilities that were 'road-mapped' but which were then still unfunded, and wanted them in a timescale that required Tranche 1 aircraft. By addressing the aircraft's air-to-ground capabilities, Eurofighter GmbH hopes to increase the Typhoon's appeal to other potential export customers and to make the aircraft more useful to partner air forces.

Operational history

On 9 August 2007, the UK's Ministry of Defence reported that No. XI Squadron of the RAF, which stood up as a Typhoon squadron on 29 March 2007, had taken delivery of its first two multi-role Typhoons. The RAF hopes to have the first multirole Typhoons operational by late 2008.

On 17 August 2007 two of XI Squadron's Typhoons were sent to intercept a Russian Tupolev Tu-95 approaching British airspace.

Specifications (Typhoon)

EJ200 engine (foreground).

The aircraft's turbofan engine (front)

General characteristics

• Crew: 1 or 2

Performance

• Thrust/weight: 1.18

Armament

• Gun: 1x 27 mm Mauser BK-27 cannon
• Air-to-Air missiles: AIM-9 Sidewinder, AIM-132 ASRAAM, AIM-120 AMRAAM, IRIS-T and in the future MBDA Meteor
• Air-to-Ground missiles: AGM-84 Harpoon, AGM-88 HARM, ALARMs, Storm Shadow (AKA "Scalp EG"), Brimstone, Taurus, Penguin and in the future AGM Armiger
• Bombs: Paveway 2, Paveway 3, Enhanced Paveway, JDAM, HOPE/HOSBO
• Laser designator, e.g. LITENING pod

External links

• Official Eurofighter website
• Eurofighter for Austria
• The Eurofighter in the Austrian Air Force
• Unofficial UK Eurofighter site
• Eurofighter Typhoon - Demon or Lemon?
• Kingdom Buys 72 Typhoon Jets - Arab News Sept 18 2007

Related content

• European defence procurement
• 4.5th generation jet fighter

Related development

• British Aerospace EAP

Related lists

• List of active United Kingdom military aircraft
• List of aircraft of the Royal Air Force
• List of military aircraft of Germany