Aircraft Profile: Eurofighter Typhoon
The Eurofighter is a highly agile, twin-engine air superiority fighter also designed for use as a multirole weapon system capable of meeting European requirements well into the 21st century.
From the late 1970s, European nations looked at collaborating in the creation of a next-generation fighter to follow types including the Sepecat Jaguar and Panavia Tornado, but differing design requirements and political disagreements meant that repeated efforts came to little. But in August 1985 Italy, the UK and West Germany agreed to go ahead with what would become the Eurofighter project, and Spain shortly followed suit.
Production was split between each nation’s leading aircraft manufacturer with workshares corresponding to the number of aircraft ordered by each partner country. Today this stands at: Alenia Aeronautica: 19.5% (Italy 121 aircraft); BAE Systems: 37.5% (UK 232); EADS Casa 13% (Spain 87); and EADS Deutschland 30% (Germany 180).
The programme’s first development aircraft made its debut flight from EADS’ Manching test facility in Germany in March 1994, and Germany was the first to receive initial production Eurofighters in August 2003.
Powered by two Eurojet EJ200 afterburning turbofans, the Eurofighter has a maximum speed of Mach 2.0 and can supercruise at up to M1.5 without using reheat. With a maximum range of 3,790km (2,045nm) the Eurofighter can carry a typical payload of two laser-guided bombs, four beyond visual-range air-to-air missiles, four short-range air-to-air missiles, two standoff-range weapons, a 1,000 litre external fuel tank and an internally-housed 27mm Mauser cannon.
Exports
Two non-partner nations have so far ordered the export-standard Eurofighter Typhoon. Austria signed a deal for 18 aircraft, but later revived this to 15, the first of which was delivered in 2007. Saudi Arabia in 2007 confirmed a government-to-government deal with the UK for 72 Typhoons, the first of which flew in October 2009. Deliveries are scheduled from mid-2009, with 48 of the aircraft expected to be assembled in Saudi Arabia.
