Eurofighter Typhoon
The Eurofighter Typhoon is a twin-engine, canard-delta wing, multirole combat aircraft developed in EU. The maiden flight of the Eurofighter prototype took place in Bavaria on 27 March 1994, flown by DASA Chief Test Pilot Peter Weger.
The Eurofighter Typhoon is Europe’s answer to the American and Russian advanced fighter aircrafts. Designed by a consortium of the Italian Alenia Aeronautica, BAE (British Aerospace) Systems, and EADS (European Aeronautic Defense and Space),the Eurofighter is a sophisticated aircraft with most of the advanced technology found in U.S. and Russian aircraft and also a price tag near the level of the F-22 Raptor. This aircraft uses canard and delta wing configuration, similar to the Swedish Saab 37 Viggen. Two afterburning turbofans power the aircraft to a maximum speed of Mach 2 and a super-cruise speed of Mach 1.2 without afterburning, similar to the F-22. According to the official German Luftwaffe and Austrian Eurofighter website, the maximum super-cruise speed is between Mach 1.2 and Mach 1.5.
The airframe, which is constructed mainly from carbon fibre composite materials and lightweight alloys, is powered by two EJ 200 engines each producing 20,000lbs of thrust in full afterburner. In full air-to-air configuration the engines provide a thrust-to-weight ratio of 1 to 1.3, which enables the Typhoon F2 to fly at Mach 2 at 65,000 feet, reach an altitude of 36,000 feet in less than two minutes and to accelerate from 200kts to 700kts in 30 seconds.
Many of the armaments used by the United States and European nations are common, and the Eurofighter carries AIM-9 Sidewinder, AIM-132 ASRAAM, AIM-120 AMRAAM, AGM-84 Harpoon, AGM-88 HARM, and JDAM, along with an assortment of missiles of European origin. The gun is a German 27-mm Mauser BK-27 cannon.
The Eurofighter Typhoon is unique in modern combat aircraft in that there are four separate assembly lines. Each partner company assembles its own national aircraft, but builds the same parts for all 683 aircraft (including exports). A fifth assembly line will be established for the final 48 Saudi aircraft.
As seen by the armaments, the Eurofighter reflects the current worldwide need for fighter aircraft that can perform a variety of missions. The Eurofighter incorporates multirole attack capabilities that include air interdiction using a large weapons payload over long ranges and multiple sensor systems; close-fire support for ground operations based on long flight endurance, ground-target tracking, and air-to-ground armaments; suppression of enemy air defense (SEAD) using sophisticated avionics and sensors; and maritime attack again using a versatile set of armaments and sensors against surface and submarine vessels.