Typhoon News & Discussions VII

[EELightning]

Since the last few pages went silly in the last thread with very little, and very interesting, news posted during the Farnborough weeks...

http://forum.keypublishing.com/showt...114286&page=28

[EELightning]

Reported 11th July.

"A huge step." That was the verdict from the Eurofighter industrial consortium at the Farnborough air show on 10 July, the day after the confirmation of a four-nation agreement to proceed with a major package of enhancements.

Eurofighter last month issued a request for proposals on behalf of partner nations Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK to integrate an active electronically scanned array radar into the Typhoon, and will respond around October, says chief executive Enzo Casolini.

"The target is to have a contract by the middle of next year, for entry into service in 2015," says Casolini. "The nations are harmonising their requirements - we're more or less there." The Euroradar consortium will for now propose a system with a "simple swashplate" design for the array, which is expected to begin flight tests during 2013. Its response will also outline a proposed development path for the technology for the next decade, Eurofighter says.

Another key element of the programme will be introducing additional weapons, including MBDA's Meteor air-to-air missile. A Eurofighter test aircraft will fire its first of the beyond visual-range weapons late this year, according to BAE Systems chief test pilot Mark Bowman.

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/art...uccess-374160/

[EELightning]

FARNBOROUGH, England, July 10 (Reuters) - Britain's BAE Systems believes the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has "real and genuine" interest in buying 60 of its Eurofighter Typhoon jets instead of the French Dassault Rafale.

"I think the interest is real and genuine as does the British government and we are working hard to put a package together for 60 planes for the UAE," BAE Systems' business development director Alan Garwood told Reuters at the Farnborough Airshow on Tuesday.

"We could tell by the questions they (the UAE government) were asking us that they were serious."

The UAE was expected to finalise a $10 billion agreement with Dassault last year but the talks faltered after the UAE said the terms were uncompetitive and unworkable.

Garwood said the British government's improved relationship with Abu Dhabi, the failure of talks with Dassault and recent new business wins for BAE in the Gulf state make it confident it can clinch the deal.

http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/0...8IA9UB20120710

[EELightning]

Eurofighter chief executive officer Enzo Casolini reported that the four partner nations had issued a request for quotations (RFQ) on the e-scan version of the Captor radar earlier this month. The consortium would respond by October and a contract would be signed by mid-2013. Test flights could follow by the end of that year, leading to service entry in 2015, he said. The industry partners and the Euroradar consortium have been pre-funding the development.

The Captor-E will feature mechanical repositioning of the antenna for enhanced performance, as previously shown in model form. But according to Berndt Wuensche, chairman of the Eurofighter supervisory board, the double swashplate mounting has been dropped in favor of a single swashplate solution. However, he hinted that the consortium would price both options when it responds to the RFQ.

Casolini said a contract to integrate the MBDA Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile would be in place by the end of the year. The consortium was proposing a mid-2015 target for operational clearance, he added. The latest edition of Eurofighter’s in-house magazine gives mid-2016 as the target date.

http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-ne...firmer-footing

[EELightning]

LONDON: Eurofighter consortium, lead by BAE Systems, is ready to invest RM6.3bil in offset programmes designed specifically for Malaysia within the next five years.

BAE Systems' senior industrial partnerships and offset manager, Mike Perret, said the group had collectively invested RM3.5bil over the last five years in Malaysia.

“We have been talking to our European partner companies involved in the Eurofighter Typhoon and that's the level of investment that they already and are planning to undertake

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story...7&sec=business

[ff1987]

http://theaviationist.com/2012/07/23...kill-markings/

[Spitfire9]

http://theaviationist.com/2012/07/23...kill-markings/

"However, as already explained several times, simulated kills scored during dissimilar BFM engagements don’t prove a fighter plane is better than another one, and are almost meaningless unless the actual Rules Of Engagement (ROE) and the training scenario are known."

Out of curiosity, are there ever any combat exercises where the participants are allowed to make best use of all the systems on their aircraft? The results of a reasonable number of WVR duels between different types using all assets at their disposal would become meaningful then.

[roberto_yeager]

I have no idea of this

1Saludo

[EELightning]

Thats an RBS-15 anti-ship missile. The same image is featured in the most recent issue of Eurofighter World. Its the first real life image I've seen of this missile on a Typhoon, others have been scaled models or artist's impressions.

'Malaysia gets option from Eurofighter'

Malaysia can choose which part of the Eurofighter's Typhoon to be developed locally should the Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA) win the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) MiG-29N replacement contract.

BAE Systems managing director, Southeast Asia John Brosnan said the Eurofighter consortium partners have agreed that as much as 90 per cent of the aircraft is available for participation by Malaysian companies.

"Most of the aircraft probably won't be made in Malaysia but it's for Malaysia to decide which bits of it they want to do here. Unlike other aircraft, we're not keeping things back and it's all available to Malaysia if it wants to have it," Brosnan told Bernama.

"One thing about defence deals, you have lots of competitors saying what they might and might not do," he added.

The UK-based company is the lead contractor on behalf of Eurofighter nations comprising the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Spain.

It was reported that BAE Systems had submitted a proposal to the Malaysian government to bid for the RMAF's MiG-29N replacement contract, comprising a 100-page list of technologies that the company was willing to transfer as well as names of local and overseas companies that were willing to participate in the
process.

http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_New...cle/index_html

[Kovy]

nice EAP video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMAM5ByBN1I

[roberto_yeager]

Thats an RBS-15 anti-ship missile. The same image is featured in the most recent issue of Eurofighter World. Its the first real life image I've seen of this missile on a Typhoon, others have been scaled models or artist's impressions.

I mean that. It was my first time too about the RBS-15, and I have no idea that the works was so advanced.

1Saludo

[Jwcook]

Is it my imagination but doesn't that picture also show LERX?

[f-35pwiii]

Yep, it really makes me think they are seriously considering equiping them as standard.

[Kovy]

Yep, it really makes me think they are seriously considering equiping them as standard.

AFAIR, that's the same typhoon on which the lerx were tested

[f-35pwiii]

AFAIR, that's the same typhoon on which the lerx were tested

Or maybe they're still testing it considering it's use for production standard.

[Scorpion82]

Indeed that's DA5. The image must be older as the aircraft has been retired on 30th October 2007 after it completed the LEX trials. The aircraft has been sponsored to the Luftwaffe and is used as a ground load trainer with the TSLw 3 at Fassberg.

[eagle1]

I've read an interesting report on Typhoon Lerx in Air & Cosmos a while ago. Basically Typhoon Lerx improve typhoon turning rate by around 10% in average but the drawback was that it bleeds more energy. The conclusion was that the Lerx could easily be available with minimum development but that it was the responsibility of each customer to measure the pros and the cons.

[EELightning]

The UAE will get the benefits of a new technology development in the Eurofighter Typhoon if it selects the aircraft for its multi-role combat type, the European partnership said today.

http://www.arabianaerospace.aero/typ...aign=news_feed

[thobbes]

Spain seeks delay in delivery of remaining 46 out of 87 Eurofighters:

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-...09-710775.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...620725982.html

[EELightning]

Under the Tranche 3A contract signed in 2009, a total of 112 aircraft have been ordered for the four European partner nations, with 40 aircraft bound for the Royal Air Force. Deliveries of Tranche 3 aircraft are expected to start in 2013.

Building on the success of the Typhoons already proven in service, as demonstrated during Libyan Operations, Tranche 3 aircraft will be even more capable.

The Tranche 3 front fuselage, part of the British single seat aircraft number 116, includes over 350 modified parts designed, engineered and assembled ready to incorporate the most advanced capability enhancements.

Those enhancements include provision for conformal fuel tanks and a fuel dump system which will enable Typhoon to fly further and stay on mission longer. Also included are extra electrical power and cooling to cater for an E-Scan radar which will enhance performance, reliability and availability whilst delivering lower support costs for Typhoon customers. Extra computing power and high speed data network systems will give the aircraft capacity for even more capability in the future.

Mark Bowman, BAE Systems’ Chief Test Pilot said: “This represents the next significant milestone in the evolution of this remarkable combat aircraft. The new provisions including for example, conformal tanks and an ESCAN radar capability not only pave the way for more war-winning advantages such as range, detection and persistence, but ensure that the aircraft remains at the forefront of combat aviation for decades to come. I look forward enormously to putting this exciting piece of cutting-edge technology through its paces when it takes to the skies in the near future”

http://www.eurofighter.com/media/new...the-front.html

[mrmalaya]

I wonder why they are only releasing that very restricted view of the airframe?

[Mercurius]

I wonder why they are only releasing that very restricted view of the airframe?

Because some public-relations officer decided that the painted inscription was the only newsworthy feature?

[mrmalaya]

Well if I were Press Officer, and that were the case, I think I would have released a few images for use.

Is there nothing particularly sensitive about the T3 forward fuselage they could be considering?

[Mercurius]

If you were the press officer, you would be very busy with tasks such as:

Attending frequent meetings (a very important part of today’s business world)

Writing speeches for company dignitaries

Trying to explain to senior personages in your company the reason why the press release on their recent promotion has not made the front news page of Aviation Week

Haggling with the relevant defence ministries to get the text and pic for your next press release security cleared.

Trying to stop you manager’s attempts to ‘improve’ the text of your next press release

Rewriting that press release after you have failed to stop those attempts

Answering stupid questions from journalists who know zilch about aircraft and aviation

Writing letters in response to members of the public who have complained about jet noise from your aircraft

And so on…

Getting extra pics taken and security cleared might not be a high priority! Especially when it could result in you getting reprimand for wasting time & money getting photos taken that are near-identical to ones taken earlier in the programme and already on file.

PR is a job that I would avoid like the plague.

[mrmalaya]

Well dear and much revered Mercurius it happens to be a big part of my job, and I recognise all of those problems although not necessarily in that order

Having said which, I am questioning the quality and angle of the image. It seems odd (considering the way the story has been picked up by all the major publications).

It just seemed a little untidy, and because it attaches to a high profile story I wonder whether there is a reason they couldn't have taken a prettier picture.

[Blue Apple]

I wonder why they are only releasing that very restricted view of the airframe?

Because only the front section has been built so far.

As the article is trying to cast a positive light on all the imrpovements on the whole aircraft, a picture showing a small section of it lying in the middle of a factory floor with lots of missing pieces wouldn't be a good idea.

Of course they could also take a picture from afar and hide the section behind a crowd, thet's wat they did in the article linked below but then we couldn't read the serial number and message about the "first tranche 3 aircraft".

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk...s_a_milestone/

[mrmalaya]

well that explains that then!

Clearly they are trying to hide something - in this case the whole front section behind BAE workers!

[Vnomad]

Because only the front section has been built so far.

As the article is trying to cast a positive light on all the imrpovements on the whole aircraft, a picture showing a small section of it lying in the middle of a factory floor with lots of missing pieces wouldn't be a good idea.

Of course they could also take a picture from afar and hide the section behind a crowd, thet's wat they did in the article linked below but then we couldn't read the serial number and message about the "first tranche 3 aircraft".

There's nothing missing from the picture. It was taken at BAE Samlesbury. The factory there manufactures the front fuselage, canards and vertical stabilizer. The final assembly on the other hand takes place at BAE Warton.

[roberto_yeager]

Spanish Typhoon and UAE F-16 in exercise now at Spain

http://www.ejercitodelaire.mde.es/ea...257A6B003CA972

1Saludo

[Hush-kit]

I have been told that German Typhoons have recently had some DASS upgrades, obviously this won't be a subject with public domain details, but has anyone heard anything about this?

Also, here's a photo-journal on EAP:http://hushkit.wordpress.com/2012/08...photo-journal/