The Aircraft of British Aerospace and BAE SYSTEMS 1977 - 2017 117EAP to EurofightEr tyPhoon
Phase 1 Enhancements Further
Work(P1EbFW ) standard. With this fit the
aircraft takes on a Swing-role capability,
combining different operational tasks
within a single mission. This is the first
phase of Project Centurion which will
eventually lead to a P2E standard which
will allow the Typhoon to take over the
ground-attack role of the Tornado GR4 as
they are retired from service at the end of
- Under P2E enhancements initial
integration of MBDA’s Meteor beyond
visual range air-to-air missile and the
Storm Shadow stand-off air-to-surface
missiles will be carried out. P2E aircraft
will also incorporate software and
avionics improvements to the radar,
defensive aids systems and targeting
pods. These enhancements will not only
increase threat awareness and pilot safety,
but also improve Typhoon’s targeting
capabilities.
Phase 3 Enhancements
The Phase 3 Enhancement Programme
will enable Eurofighter operators to
integrate the Brimstone 2 on the aircraft
and will also further enhance other
existing weapons capabilities, including
Storm Shadow, Meteor, Paveway IV and
ASRAAM. The P3E standard is due to be
delivered in 2017. It will further enable
the Typhoon to deploy several more
capabilities including precision-guided
air-to-surface weapons at fast-moving
targets with low-collateral damage. So by
2019, Typhoon will be fulfilling a number
with this weapons fit, it lost none of its
incredible agility and manoeuvreability.
Development beyond P3E would be the
integration of the new Captor-E Active
Electronically Scanned Array radar
ensuring that Typhoon could continue to
operate in hostile environments in the
future.Sales
As Typhoon is a shared project, markets
for sales are also shared out between the
partner countries. BAE was given
responsibility for Australia, Bahrain,
Canada, Indonesia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia,
Singapore and UAE, countries where it
had been successful in selling military
aircraft. Most of them are currently BAE
Hawk operators. BAE and its predecessor
companies had a long relationship with
Saudi Arabia in particular and has
provided aircraft and trained crews for it.
As an incentive to each of the partners
where sales are achieved in one of their
specific markets, final assembly then takes
place at their factory, though parts
continue to be drawn in from the
consortium.
By April 2017, 500 Typhoons had been
delivered, from a total order book of 599.
Eurofighter delivered a combined total of
47 Typhoons over the 12-month period to
the end of May 2016. Besides the four
partner nations Typhoon has received
orders from Austria, Saudi Arabia, Oman
and Kuwait. Based on current
commitments, final assembly lines in
Germany and Spain have work until the
end of 2018, while those in Italy and the
UK – which respectively led sales
campaigns in Kuwait and Oman, will run
on until 2020. With the likelihood of
production lines closing partner
companies have stepped up their efforts
to secure additional export orders.
In 2002 Austria placed an order for 18
Tranche 2 aircraft, though in the event it
received 15 Tranche 1 Typhoons from the
production line at Manching. With BAE’s
close ties with Saudi Arabia, supplying
No 11 Squadron
RAF Typhoon at
Green Flag, USA.
The Typhoon is
loaded with
Paveway 2 bombs,
Litening designater
pod and drop tanks.
(Copyright Eurofighter- Geoffrey Lee)
Austrian Air Force
Typhoon 7L-WH.
(Copyright Eurofighter- Markus Zinner)
of roles including air defence of the UK,
stand-off attack and close air support,
able to switch roles without having to
reconfigure its weapons. A truly multi-role
aircraft.
BAE demonstrated a Typhoon Tranche
3 in the Phase 3 Enhancement
configuration at the 2016 Fairford RIAT
and at the Farnborough Air Show. Though
loaded with six Brimstones, four Meteors
and two Paveway precision-guided
bombs the Typhoon showed that even