Eurofighter Typhoon: 400th aircraft delivered

The 400th Eurofighter Typhoon has been delivered to the programme’s worldwide customer base. The German Air Force took delivery of the 400th aircraft in December 2013 during a special ceremony at the Military Air Systems Center in Manching/Germany.

Alberto Gutierrez, Chief Executive Officer of Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH, said: “The delivery of the 400th Eurofighter Typhoon marks a historic milestone in Europe’s largest defence programme. Now we must focus much more strongly on export campaigns in order to win new contracts and new customers for this outstanding aircraft. Right now, especially in these difficult times in the defence industry, it is more important than ever that we stand up and be counted.”

The Chief Executive Officer of Airbus Defence and Space, Bernhard Gerwert, said: "As a partner in the Eurofighter consortium, we are proud that we have assembled the 400th Eurofighter and that we can hand over to the German Air Force its 112 aircraft. Our customers are fully convinced of the performance of the Eurofighter Typhoon. The most modern combat aircraft in the world will also be a significant part of the product portfolio in the new Division called “Airbus Defence and Space.”

Delivery of the very first Eurofighter to the Royal Air Force in the United Kingdom took place end of 2003. The 100th Eurofighter was delivered also to the Royal Air Force in September 2006. The 200th aircraft was handed over in November 2009 to the German Air Force. The 300th aircraft was delivered to the Spanish Air Force in November 2011.

In the past 10 years the global Eurofighter fleet has demonstrated its high operational effectiveness in international missions and trainings and accumulated about 220,000 flying hours. Several developments such as the Phase 1 Enhancement, the integration of the METEOR air-to-air missile, the new electronic radar (E-Scan) and additional weaponry increase the capabilities of the Eurofighter Typhoon and secure the future of this modern combat aircraft in the next decades.

Flight Tests with Storm Shadow and Taurus missiles

Eurofighter has begun intensive flight test campaigns with the Storm Shadow and Taurus missiles. Both missiles will further increase the air-to-ground capabilities of the Eurofighter Typhoon. Laurie Hilditch, Head of Future Capability at Eurofighter GmbH, said: “These capability enhancements underline that our proven and trusted programme is well on track and that we achieve what we promise.”

A major goal of the flight tests is to assess the Storm Shadow in flight and to achieve clearance for the full integration on the Eurofighter Typhoon by 2015. First tests have been undertaken on the Instrumented Production Aircraft 2 (IPA2) by Alenia Aermacchi at the Decimomannu Air Base in Sardinia/ Italy. The Storm Shadow, manufactured by MBDA, is already in service with the Tornados of the Italian Air Force, Royal Air Force and Royal Saudi Air Force. It is a conventionally armed, stealthy, longrange stand-off precision weapon designed to neutralise high value targets. The weapon system will add the capability to strike by day or night in all-weather conditions, well-defended infrastructure targets such as port facilities, control centres, bunkers and bridges that would otherwise require several missions.

As part of the Storm Shadow integration programme, Airbus Defence and Space has started flight testing with the Taurus missile on the Instrumented Production Aircraft 7 (IPA7). Concurrent testing of these two similar missiles optimises the Storm Shadow integration and facilitates the future airframe integration of Taurus. The missile incorporates stealth characteristics and is designed to strike targets such as bunkers and command and control facilities.

In order to further increase the operational capabilities of the combat aircraft, Eurofighter GmbH and the NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency (NETMA) signed a new Development Contract in October 2013. The package (known as Evolution Package 2) consists of a number of improvements including enhancements to the major avionics sensor such as the Radar and the Defensive Aids Sub Systems (DASS). It also includes enhancements designed to cater for the latest operational requests of customers and enhancements to the Multifunction Information and Distribution System (MIDS).

World Economic Forum 2014 in Davos: Eurofighter secured the Airspace

Eurofighter Typhoons of the Austrian Armed Forces secured the airspace during the World Economic Forum 2014 in Davos/Switzerland.

As part of what is known as “Operation Daedalus 2014“, Eurofighters delivered a significant contribution to the security of this international conference in Switzerland. The World Economic Forum took place from 22nd to 25th January in the famous ski resort.

Alberto Gutierrez, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Eurofighter, said: “In addition to its primary task of securing the airspace in Austria on a daily basis, Eurofighter will again support the security measures for this renowned conference in Switzerland. Every day our aircraft protect the skies of our customers around the clock. Outstanding events like this one are always given special attention.”

All 15 Eurofighter Typhoon in Austria have gone through a planned upgrade programme and are equipped with performance-enhanced hardware and software. They now have the latest capability standard for what are known as ‘Tranche 1’ variants of the aircraft.

In recent years, Eurofighters have been used for numerous large international events including securing the airspace during the Olympic Games in London in summer 2012. For the entire period of the Games the combat aircraft were on Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft also controlled the airspace during the European Football Championship in Austria and in Switzerland in 2008 and during the Ski World Championship 2013 in Schladming/Styria.