Eurofighter Typhoon – Delivering Capability to the Customer

Eurofighter GmgH, PARIS: The Eurofighter consortium is delivering capability to the customer. The major European Air Forces of Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, are operational with Eurofighter Typhoon therefore confirming its position as the undisputed number one air-defence platform. At the same time, industry are striving hard to provide the next level of leading-edge capabilities to confirm Eurofighter Typhoon as the world's most advanced multi-/swing-role combat aircraft. 
 
Aloysius Rauen, CEO Eurofighter GmbH, speaking in Paris commented: 
 
“We are delivering the benchmark-setting capability to our Partner Air Forces. Our motivation is delivering a customer-satisfying product both now and for the decades to come. Eurofighter Typhoon, backed by a powerful industrial alliance, will continue to meet the exacting demands of European and NATO combat forces.” 
 
The topic of capability delivery is central to the Eurofighter presence at Le Bourget. The centrepiece is a large VIP pavilion emblazoned with the “We Deliver!” branding. The pavilion will feature the Eurofighter Cockpit Demonstrator, at future capability standard, showcasing the aircraft's operational potential and further highlighting the firepower that is available to the four Partner Air Forces. Outside the pavilion, a full scale replica Eurofighter Typhoon with weapons will enhance the on-ground presence while, in the skies, the Italian Air Force will conduct daily flying displays. 
 
An additional Italian aircraft will be on the static park at the Finmeccanica/Alenia exhibition. 
 
Delivering in-step capability is the core theme in the Eurofighter programme's development and production strategy. Type Acceptance of Block 5 aircraft, the pinnacle of Tranche 1 capability, was achieved in February, with the delivery of the first Block 5 weapon system confirmed as SS011 joined the ranks of the Spanish Air Force. Block 5 begins to unlock the multi-role potential of the aircraft and will be the baseline standard for the entire Eurofighter Typhoon Tranche 1 fleet on completion of the Retrofit R2 programme. 
 
With the imminent closure of the Main Development Contract, a major emphasis has been placed on formulating a roadmap for the integration of future capabilities. This effort was rewarded when the Eurofighter consortium and the NATO Eurofighter Tornado Management Agency (NETMA) contractually-agreed the “First Batch of Enhancements for the Eurofighter Typhoon”, representing the Tranche 2 forward development programme. This boost in capability will include the integration of advanced weapons such as Paveway IV and Enhanced GBU-16 alongside work to integrate a Laser Designator Pod. 
Aloysius Rauen added: “This new contract will extend the operational spectrum of Eurofighter Typhoon within our Partner Air Forces. The superiority of this weapon system over the competition is set to grow.” 
 
Work to maintain Eurofighter Typhoon's operational advantage beyond the first-phase enhancements is underway across the four-Nation flight test team. Data gathering on the carriage of the state-of-the-art Meteor Beyond Visual Range air-to-air missile has been conducted in Spain and Italy, with further flights planned for later in the year. Additionally, the first steps towards e-scan capability were taken by the Euroradar consortium with first flights of the CAESAR (Captor Active Electronically Scanning Array Radar) antenna in Development Aircraft Five (DA5) at Manching, Germany. This new antenna is just one of a number of industrial proposals for future enhancements of Eurofighter Typhoon to go into customer consideration. 
 
To date 120 Eurofighter Typhoon have been delivered to the customer. The nations' fleets have accumulated over 20,000 flight hours by end May 2007, the industry test fleet is close to the 5,200 hours mark.