Eurofighter Typhoon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurofighter_Typhoon

The Eurofighter Typhoon is a twin-engine, canard–delta wing, multirole fighter.
The Typhoon was designed originally as an air superiority fighter and is
manufactured by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo that conducts
the majority of the project through a joint holding company, Eurofighter
Jagdflugzeug GmbH formed in 1986. NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency
manages the project and is the prime customer.

The aircraft's development effectively began in 1983 with the Future European
Fighter Aircraft programme, a multinational collaboration among the UK, Germany,
France, Italy and Spain. Disagreements over design authority and operational
requirements led France to leave the consortium to develop the Dassault Rafale
independently. A technology demonstration aircraft, the British Aerospace EAP,
first took flight on 6 August 1986; the first prototype of the finalised
Eurofighter made its first flight on 27 March 1994. The aircraft's name,
Typhoon, was adopted in September 1998; the first production contracts were also
signed that year.

Political issues in the partner nations significantly protracted the Typhoon's
development; the sudden end of the Cold War reduced European demand for fighter
aircraft, and debate existed over the aircraft's cost and work share. The
Typhoon entered operational service in 2003; it has entered service with the air
forces of Austria, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain and Saudi Arabia.
The air forces of Oman, Kuwait and Qatar are export customers, bringing the
procurement total to 599 aircraft as of 2016.

The Eurofighter Typhoon is a highly agile aircraft, designed to be a supremely
effective dogfighter in combat. Later production aircraft have been increasingly
better equipped to undertake air-to-surface strike missions and to be compatible
with an increasing number of different armaments and equipment, including Storm
Shadow and the RAF's Brimstone. The Typhoon had its combat debut during the 2011
military intervention in Libya with the UK's Royal Air Force and the Italian Air
Force, performing aerial reconnaissance and ground-strike missions. The type has
also taken primary responsibility for air-defence duties for the majority of
customer nations.


Role
Multirole fighter

National origin
Multi-national

Manufacturer
Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH

First flight
27 March 1994

Introduction
4 August 2003

Status
In service

Primary users
Royal Air Force
German Air Force
Italian Air Force
Spanish Air Force
See Operators below for others

Produced
1994–present

Number built
558

Unit cost

€90 million (system cost Tranche 3A)
£125 million (including development + production costs)


Developed from
British Aerospace EAP

Variants
Eurofighter Typhoon variants

The Typhoon's combat performance, compared to the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning
II fighters and the French Dassault Rafale, has been the subject of much
discussion. In March 2005, United States Air Force Chief of Staff General John
P. Jumper, then the only person to have flown both the Eurofighter Typhoon and
the Raptor, talked to Air Force Print News about these two aircraft. He said,


The Eurofighter is both agile and sophisticated, but is still difficult to
compare to the F/A-22 Raptor. They are different kinds of airplanes to start
with; it's like asking us to compare a NASCAR car with a Formula One car. They
are both exciting in different ways, but they are designed for different levels
of performance. …The Eurofighter is certainly, as far as smoothness of controls
and the ability to pull (and sustain high G forces), very impressive. That is
what it was designed to do, especially the version I flew, with the avionics,
the color moving map displays, etc. – all absolutely top notch. The
maneuverability of the airplane in close-in combat was also very impressive. The
F/A-22 performs in much the same way as the Eurofighter. But it has additional
capabilities that allow it to perform the [U.S.] Air Force's unique missions

Specifications

General characteristics
Crew: 1 (operational aircraft) or 2 (training aircraft)
Length: 15.96 m (52.4 ft)
Wingspan: 10.95 m (35.9 ft)
Height: 5.28 m (17.3 ft)
Wing area: 51.2 m² (551 sq ft)
Empty weight: 11,000 kg (24,000 lb)
Loaded weight: 16,000 kg (35,270 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 23,500 kg (51,800 lb)
Fuel capacity: 5,000 kg (11,020 lb) internal
Powerplant: 2 × Eurojet EJ200 afterburning turbofan Dry thrust: 60 kN (13,500
lbf) each
Thrust with afterburner: 90 kN (20,230 lbf) each


Performance
Maximum speed:
At altitude: Mach 2 class (2,495 km/h or 1,550 mph at 10,975m altitude)
At sea level: Mach 1.25 (1,530 km/h or 950 mph)
Supercruise: Mach 1.5

Range: 2,900 km (1,800 mi)
Combat radius:
(with 3 × external 1,000 l tanks) Ground attack, lo-lo-lo: 601 km (325 nmi)
Ground attack, hi-lo-hi: 1,389 km (750 nmi)
Air defence with 3-hr combat air patrol: 185 km (100 nmi)
Air defence with 10-min. loiter: 1,389 km (750 nmi)

Ferry range: 3,790 km (2,350 mi; with 3 × drop tanks)
Service ceiling: 19,812 m (65,000 ft)
Rate of climb: 318 m/s (62,600 ft/min)
Wing loading: 312 kg/m² (63.9 lb/ft²)
Thrust/weight: 1.15 (interceptor configuration)
g-load limits: +9 g to -3 g
Brakes-off to Take-off acceleration: 8 s
Brakes-off to supersonic acceleration: 30 s
Brakes-off to Mach 1.6 at 11,000 m (36,000 ft): 150 s

Armament

Guns: 1 × 27 mm Mauser BK-27 revolver cannon with 150 rounds
Hardpoints: Total of 13: 8 × under-wing; and 5 × under-fuselage pylon stations;
holding in excess of 9,000 kg (19,800 lb) of payload
Typical multi-role configuration for a Tranche 2-P1E would be 4 × AMRAAM,
2×ASRAAM/IRIS-T, 4 × EGBU-16/Paveway-IV, 2 × 1000-litre supersonic fuel tanks
and a targeting pod.
Missiles:
Air-to-air missiles: AIM-120 AMRAAM (AIM-120C-5/7 planned for P2E)
AIM-132 ASRAAM
AIM-9 Sidewinder
IRIS-T
MBDA Meteor

Air-to-surface missiles: AGM-65 Maverick
AGM-88 HARM
Brimstone
Taurus KEPD 350
Storm Shadow/Scalp EG
SPEAR 3 (planned)
Marte ER anti-ship missile
Joint Strike Missile (planned)


Bombs: Paveway II/III/Enhanced Paveway series of laser-guided bombs (LGBs)
500-lb Paveway IV
Small Diameter Bomb (planned for P2E)
Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), in the future
HOPE/HOSBO, in the future
Spice 250

Others: Damocles (targeting pod)
LITENING III laser targeting pod
Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod
Up to 3 × drop tanks for ferry flight or extended range/loitering time
Conformal fuel tanks on Tranche 3 or later


Avionics

Euroradar CAPTOR Radar
Passive Infra-Red Airborne Tracking Equipment
Praetorian DASS



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