BAE Systems and partner Qinetiq are gearing up to begin transformation of an Avro RJ100 regional jet into a flight-test asset for trials of the ECRS Mk2 radar under development by Leonardo UK for Royal Air Force (RAF)-operated Eurofighter Typhoons.
Joint work on the Qinetiq-owned quadjet (G-ETPL), also known as the Airborne Technology Demonstrator (ATD), has been under way for several years, with the aircraft emerging in 2023 fitted with a “combat aircraft nose system”.
At the time, BAE was coy on the intended use for the ATD but interest now appears to have coalesced around flight tests of the ECRS Mk2, alongside other capability enhancements, including of the Typhoon’s self-protection system.
Paul Smith, Typhoon strategy delivery director, BAE Systems Air, says the UK firm, a partner in the Eurofighter programme, has collaborated with Qinetiq over the course of 2025 to “look at modifications required to support the ECRS Mk2 radar trials for Typhoon”.
This activity included “analysis of airworthiness and design modifications to the aircraft as well as the broader avionics interface with the radar”, he says.
“Having completed our analysis, we expect to begin work on the modifications required to the aircraft in the coming months and ensure it is ready to support our scheduled work on ECRS Mk2.”
Initial flight trials of a prototype of the active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar took place at the end of 2024 from BAE’s Warton production site in northwest England, using a Typhoon test aircraft.
Ahead of those flights, the company carried out extensive ground testing at Warton “which enabled us to mature the capability… ensuring an efficient and effective use of test aircraft,” Smith says.
A similar outcome is expected through use of the modified RJ100. “We expect more than 50% of the flight-test activities currently conducted on Typhoon could be more effectively achieved using the ATD,” says Smith.
“For example, we believe it can achieve earlier and longer flight tests, accelerate capability quicker and more cheaply, and demonstrate progress on ECRS Mk2’s unique features including wideband electronic attack, high-resolution SAR [synthetic aperture radar] and automatic target recognition.”
Beyond the initial focus on the ECRS Mk2, BAE hopes to use the ATD to demonstrate additional capabilities on the Typhoon, including future variants of Leonardo’s Praetorian defensive aids subsystem.
“The ATD will allow both the UK and its European partners to mature and iterate Typhoon’s avionics to exploit broader capabilities which ECRS Mk2 brings,” adds Smith.
The new AESA radar is due to be installed on 40 Tranche 3 production examples of the Typhoon for the RAF by BAE from 2028, with service entry due before the end of this decade.
Leonardo in June received funds for the acquisition of long-lead items for the development and anticipates the signature of a contract covering full-rate production later in 2025.
