Eurofighter Typhoon

The first time the UK identified the need for a new fighter was in 1971. The Air Staff tried a design known as P.96 presented in the late 1970s, but the UK air industry proved to be reserved, because the model looked very similar to the F/A-18 Hornet, which, at that point was already in development. Since the Hornet was well established in the international market, the new design had little chance of future growth. In the same time the Germans identified a similar need of a new fighter and it led to the development of the TKF-90 concept.

Eurofighter Typhoon

Eurofighter Cockpit

Eurofighter launching missile

In 1983 multiple nations gathered to develop a common concept, which eventually became the Eurofighter Typhoon. At this point Germany, UK, France and Spain initiated the Future European Fighter Aircraft program (FEFA). Because France reiterated its need of a carrier capable version and demanded to take a leading role, the UK, West Germany and Italy opted out and started a new EFA program. In 1985 Spain also joined the Eurofighter Typhoon project, in spite of the pressure from France. France decided to start its own project, which became the Dassault Rafale.

The Eurofighter Typhoon is a twin-engine multirole aircraft with canard-delta wing. The design and production is a made by a partnership of three separate companies: BAE Systems, Alenia Aeronautica and EADS. They work through a holding company formed in 1986, Eurofigher GmbH. The project manager is the NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Mangement Agency, which is also the prime customer. The forces that the Eurofighter Typhoon serves are the UK Royal Air Force, the Italian Air Force, the German Luftwaffe, the Austrian Air Force and the Spanish Air Force, followed by the Saudi Arabia, who signed a 6.4 billion euros contract for 72 aircrafts.

The first flight of the Eurofighter Typhoon prototype took place in Germany, on 27 March 1994. The test was performed by Dasa chief test pilot Peter Weger, who flew the Eurofighter Typhoon on a flight around Bavaria. The verification of the operational behavior of the aircraft and its systems in low temperatures began on 9 December 2004 and ended in March 2005 during the three months Cold Environmental Trials at the Vidsel Air Base in Sweden.

The production contract of the Eurofighter Typhoon was signed on 30 January 1998. The three companies that signed were NETMA, Eurofighter GmbH and Eurojet. The request was for 620 aircrafts (UK 232, Germany 180, Italy 121 and Spain 87). The next main event was the naming of the new aircraft. This took place on 2 September 1998 at Farnborough, England. This is where the Eurofighter Typhoon was officially adopted. The name was a little inconvenient for the Germans, maybe because in World War II the RAF attacked the German targets with the Hawker Typhoon.

Until now the three companies that built the Eurofighter Typhoon produced a total of 707 aircrafts delivered to Germany, United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Saudi Arabia and Austria.

Eurofighter Ammunition

Two Eurofighters in flight

Boarding the Eurofighter

The Eurofighter Typhoon is very well equipped. The cockpit is made of glass, and it has three full colour Multifunction Head Down Displays, Voice and Hands On Throttle And Stick (Voice+HOTAS), a wide angle Heads Up Dysplay with Forward Looking Infra Red and Helmet Mounted Symbology. The Eurofighter Typhoon cockpit also has a multifunction information distribution system and a Manual Data Entry Facility located on the left glareshield. The hand throttles are placed on the left of the pilot and the stick positioned on the centre, by which the pilot uses to fly the aircraft; the cockpit also has an emergency escape with an ejection seat by Martin Baker Mk.16A which has two rocket motors. The pilot of the Eurofighter Typhoon is greatly helped by the voice control, provided by the Speech Recognition Module, which gives the pilot a natural way of control over 26 functions of the cockpit.

The Eurofighter Typhoon has the PIRATE (Passive Infra-Red Airborne Track Equipment), which is mounted on the port side of the fuselage, forward of the windscreen. This system can operate in two IR bands, which works as an IRST (Infrared Search Track) system, when it's used with the radar in air to air roles. This gives the Eurofighter Typhoon tracking and passive target detection. When used in an air to surface role, the PIRATE makes performs target identification and acquisition, providing navigation and landing aid.

The Eurofighter Typhoon can carry a crew of 1 (pilot) for the Typhoon F2 and 2 for the Typhoon T1. Here are the general characteristics of the Eurofighter Typhoon: Length: 15.96 m (52 ft 5 in); Wingspan: 10.95 m (35 ft 11 in); Height: 5.28 m (17 ft 4 in); Wing area: 50 m² (538 ft²); Empty weight: 11,000 kg (24,250 lb); Loaded weight: 15,550 kg (34,280 lb); Max takeoff weight: 23,500 kg (51,800 lb); Powerplant: 2× Eurojet EJ200 afterburning turbofan; Dry thrust: 60 kN (13,500 lbf) each; Thrust with afterburner: 90 kN (20,250 lbf) each.

The Eurofighter Typhoon's performances: Maximum speed: at altitude: Mach 2 (2,120 km/h, 1,320 mph); at sea level: Mach 1.2; supercruise: clean Mach 1.5; range: 1,390 km (864 mi); ferry range: 3,790 km (2,300 mi); service ceiling 19,812 m (65,000 ft); rate of climb: >315 m/s (62,007 ft/min); wing loading: 311 kg/m² (63.7 lb/ft²); thrust/weight: 1.18.

The Eurofighter Typhoon has a wide selection of ammunitions it can use. It fires with a 1x27 mm Mause BK-27 cannon and for the air to air attack it uses AIM-9 Sidewinder, AIM-132 ASRAAM, AIM-120 AMRAAM, IRIS-T. It is predicted that in the future the Eurofighter Typhoon will also use the MBDA Meteor. For air to ground attack the Typhoon uses -84 Harpoon, AGM-88 HARM, ALARM, Storm Shadow, Brimstone, Taurus KEPD 350 and Penguin. Its bombs are Paveway 2, Paveway 3, Enhanced Paveway, JDAM, HOPE/HOSBO. The Eurofighter also has a laser designator.

The Eurofighter Typhoon is now a very reliable aircraft that European and Asian forces use. Its supersonic speed makes it a hard to kill opponent and its capacities are suitable for any combat.