Eurofighter, the aircraft set to fly well into the next century takes off into a glorious future
| Eurofighter is go! |
| Europe unites to produce an all-round winner |
| Tim Ripley profiles Europe's largest collaborative military aviation project that began its long-awaited production phase in December 1997 |
| During the last months of 1997 the parliaments and governments in Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain signed up to produce 620 Eurofighter aircraft with an option to buy an additional 90. It is estimated to be the largest aircraft programme outside the US and will be worth at least $45 billion to the European air craft industry, even without export earnings. |
Eurofighter, the aircraft set to fly well into the next century takes off into a glorious future |
The political commitment of the four partner nations in the Eurofighter consortium marks a major milestone in the 18-year process that began when Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain signed up to develop a European fighter aircraft (EFA) to counter the latest generation of Soviet MiG and Sukhoi fighters. France soon dropped out during the first of many political problems that beset the programme. Following German re-unification the Bonn government appeared to waver in its commitment to the aircraft on cost grounds but the December 1997 vote by the Bundestag gave Eurofighter a big yes. The political controversy surrounding the project has been and still is intense. At one point the aircraft was re-named the Eurofighter 2000 (EF2000) in an attempt to massage German political opinion but now the name Eurofighter is back in common usage. |
The programme The partner nations are now beginning to prepare production lines
in Warton (British Aerospace, UK), Munich (DASA, Germany), Turin (Alenia, Italy) and
Madrid (CASA, Spain) under the auspices of the Eurofighter Jadgflug zeug GmbH. The
associated engine partners in Eurojet Turbo GmbH, Rolls-Royce, Motoren und Turbinen Union,
Fiat and SENER also are now gearing up for series production of the aircraft's EJ200
powerplants The Euroradar consortium of GEC-Marconi, Inisel, FIAR and DASA is co-operating
to produce the ECR 90-pulse Doppler radar. The work-share between the partner nations was
agreed in 1996 at 36 per cent for the UK and 30, 20 and 14 percent for Germany, Italy and
Spain respectively. |
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DAS in flight at last
equipped with new EJ200 engines and ECR 90 radar The first production aircraft should start rolling off lines in 2001 for delivery to user air force's test and evaluation centres. The British expect to form their first operational squadron in 2003 and for deliveries to continue for four years. Other partner air forces expect to follow similar programmes. Eurofighter described |
| The Eurofighter was borne out of the 1987 European
staff requirement for development (ESR-D) that defined the key parameters relating to the
combat performance of the aircraft, the equipment to be carried, the ease of maintenance
and the ability to operate in all weathers with minimum support from short runways. As a result Eurofighter is a single-seat, high- performance, agile combat aircraft, optimised for air superiority in beyond visual range (BVR) and close-combat action. It also has a comprehensive air-to-surface attack and tactical reconnaissance capability. To meet the ESR-D, Eurofighter must be extremely agile and capable of air combat manoeuvres not possible in previous fighters. This led to special emphasis on low-wing loading, a high thrust-to-weight ratio and carefree handling. The aircraft's high performance has to be matched by an all-round vision and sophisticated attack, identification and defence system. These include long-range radar, an infrared track-and-search system, advanced medium and short-range air-to-air missiles and a comprehensive electronic warfare suite. |
The Storm Shadow
long-range, precision-guided cruise missile is also an ordnance option. Future potential Now production is underway for the partner nations export customers are
beginning to show considerable interest in Eurofighter. UAE, Norway and Australia have
shortlisted the Eurofighter in their procurement contests and other nations are beginning
to take notice of the aircraft's advanced features. Not without reason does Eurofighter
GmbH managing director Brian Phillipson declare: |
 Eurofighter remains the only cost-effective solution to the air-defence requirements of the four participating countries |
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