, The 100th Eurofighter Typhoon off the production line is due to arrive at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire today – flown in by the Station's highest ranking officer.
Group Captain Bob Judson, Coningsby's Station Commander decided to mark the milestone by flying to BAE Systems' Warton factory in Lancs to personally fly back the newest “aircraft”.
This Typhoon will be the 35th to enter service in the Royal Air Force and will be the first to aircraft on the inventory of No. 11 (Fighter) Sqn, which is due to reform at RAF Coningsby, the home of the Typhoon, after being disbanded in 2004.
Group Captain Judson – who completed 25 years of flying RAF jets earlier this year – said:
“It is an immense privilege to accept the 100th Typhoon into the RAF. I flew Jaguars for many years but the Typhoon is an amazing and highly capable aircraft. It was very special occasion because I am flying to Warton in a Jaguar, which is one of the oldest fast jets in the RAF, and returning in the newest.”
RAF Coningsby is the Main Operating Base (MOB) for the Eurofighter Typhoon and supports the squadrons that are evaluating the aircraft, converting pilots to the type and also the first operational Typhoon fighter squadrons.
Typhoon is an agile, single seat, multi-role aircraft designed for high-altitude, supersonic air superiority but also capable of operating in the ground attack and reconnaissance environment, carrying out the roles of up to three 'earlier generation' aircraft.
| View Pictures of the Royal Air Force Eurofighter |
| Eurofighter (UK) |
Background Facts and Figures
No. 3(Fighter) Sqn formed in April this year and No. 11 (Fighter) Sqn will re-form once a core number of aircraft is reached after today's arrival.
Typhoon is being built by a four-nation consortium of European partners and can fly at half a kilometer per second and pull 9g.
BAE Systems at Warton is responsible for the final assembly and delivery of Typhoon.
Typhoon is able to carry the full range of current air-to-ground including Paveway laser-guided bombs, Brimstone anti-armour missiles and the Storm Shadow stand-off cruise missile.
Typhoon air-to-air missile capability includes Advanced Short-Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM), Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) and Meteor, Beyond Visual-Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM).
