Photo: Airbus
The United States has a wide range of combat aircraft at its disposal, including two of the world's only four families of fifth-generation fighter jets. And because they are always in the news, America's planes seem to be at the top of their respective food chains.
Yet the Europeans claim one of their home-brewed such machines is the world's most advanced combat aircraft, at least as far as the swing-role ones are concerned – that means planes with the ability to quickly adapt to different roles, if need be including during the same mission.
The plane is called Eurofighter (aka Typhoon), and has been around as a product of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo for exactly 20 years now.
The Eurofighter is deployed in the service of several European aerial armies, including the British Royal Air Force, the German Luftwaffe, Italy's Aeronautica Militare, and Spain's Ejercito del Aire y del Espacio.
Generally speaking the Eurofighter is powered by a pair of Eurojet EJ200 engines, each of them capable of developing 13,000 pounds of thrust each. The plane can reach a maximum speed of Mach 2 (2,125 kph/1,320 mph), and can fly at altitudes of 19,812 meters (65,000 feet) for distances of up to 2,900 km (1,800 miles).
Those are impressive capabilities, and when paired with all the other things the plane can do militarily, we get the picture of a very capable fighting platform. Yet in the military world 20 years is a very long time, and the Eurofighter is getting old in some respects.
One area where the plane could need improvements is its electronic combat capabilities, meaning the way the plane can respond to the threats of the modern-day battlefield. And it's exactly this capability that will be improved through an upgrade called Eurofighter EK.
The evolution of the Eurofighter into something more potent was announced last week by European defense contractor Airbus, which announced it was tapped by the German Luftwaffe to make 15 of its Eurofighters capable of taking on more evolved threats.
The exact details of what the upgrades mean are not disclosed, but Airbus did say they will include a transmitter location system sourced from Saab, backed by a self-protection suite (including jammers) supplied by the same contractor. These should give it not only defensive capabilities, but also the power to detect, locate, and disable anti-aircraft radars.
On top of it all, the Eurofighter in the EK configuration will also be equipped with an anti-radar suite of missiles. These are of the Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile variety, or AARGM, produced by American company Northrop Grumman (the exact version of the weapon is not disclosed).
The plane in this configuration is meant as a replacement for another European combat aircraft, the Panavia Tornado Electronic Combat/Reconnaissance (ECR), taking from it the role of enemy air defense suppressor. As per Airbus, the EK should be ready to be certified by NATO by the end of the decade.
Airbus will work with Eurofighter GmbH and the NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency on the project. The cost of the effort was not disclosed.
The plane is called Eurofighter (aka Typhoon), and has been around as a product of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo for exactly 20 years now.
The Eurofighter is deployed in the service of several European aerial armies, including the British Royal Air Force, the German Luftwaffe, Italy's Aeronautica Militare, and Spain's Ejercito del Aire y del Espacio.
Generally speaking the Eurofighter is powered by a pair of Eurojet EJ200 engines, each of them capable of developing 13,000 pounds of thrust each. The plane can reach a maximum speed of Mach 2 (2,125 kph/1,320 mph), and can fly at altitudes of 19,812 meters (65,000 feet) for distances of up to 2,900 km (1,800 miles).
Those are impressive capabilities, and when paired with all the other things the plane can do militarily, we get the picture of a very capable fighting platform. Yet in the military world 20 years is a very long time, and the Eurofighter is getting old in some respects.
One area where the plane could need improvements is its electronic combat capabilities, meaning the way the plane can respond to the threats of the modern-day battlefield. And it's exactly this capability that will be improved through an upgrade called Eurofighter EK.
The evolution of the Eurofighter into something more potent was announced last week by European defense contractor Airbus, which announced it was tapped by the German Luftwaffe to make 15 of its Eurofighters capable of taking on more evolved threats.
The exact details of what the upgrades mean are not disclosed, but Airbus did say they will include a transmitter location system sourced from Saab, backed by a self-protection suite (including jammers) supplied by the same contractor. These should give it not only defensive capabilities, but also the power to detect, locate, and disable anti-aircraft radars.
On top of it all, the Eurofighter in the EK configuration will also be equipped with an anti-radar suite of missiles. These are of the Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile variety, or AARGM, produced by American company Northrop Grumman (the exact version of the weapon is not disclosed).
The plane in this configuration is meant as a replacement for another European combat aircraft, the Panavia Tornado Electronic Combat/Reconnaissance (ECR), taking from it the role of enemy air defense suppressor. As per Airbus, the EK should be ready to be certified by NATO by the end of the decade.
Airbus will work with Eurofighter GmbH and the NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency on the project. The cost of the effort was not disclosed.
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