Eurofighter’s Upgrades: Enough? In Time?

Future Typhoonweapons array?(click to view full) At the opening of the Farnborough 2012 defense exhibition, British Prime Minister David Cameron discussed the Eurofighter’s future: “Typhoon’s growth potential is huge and the four partner nations, Italy, Germany, Spain and the UK have agreed the next steps required to further exploit this. The integration of the METEOR missile, an Electronically Scanned Radar, enhancements of the Defensive Aids System, further development of the air-to-air and air-to-ground capabilities and integration of new weapons.” All of these capabilities will be welcome. Indeed, all are necessary, in order to address key platform weaknesses, and keep the plane competitive in the international marketplace as a multi-role fighter. A short synopsis of each aspect follows. Meteor, loading(click to view full) MBDA’s Meteor missile has just finished testing, and Britain has signed a production contract. Meteor will be entering production for the UK by the end of 2012. The Eurofighter has always been one of the initial fielding platforms for this ramjet-powered, Mach 4, long range air-to-air missile, and Meteor-armed RAF Eurofighters are slated for fielding in 2015-2016. This is old news, but good news. Meteor’s reach will be an excellent fit with the Typhoon’s design intent, and will […]