The Eurofighter Typhoon is a European twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter.
The Typhoon was designed originally as an air superiority fighter and is manufactured by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo that conducts the majority of the project through a joint holding company, Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH.
The NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency, representing the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain manages the project and is the prime customer.
The Eurofighter is produced in single-seat and twin-seat variants.
The twin-seat variant is not used operationally, but only for training, though it is combat capable.
The aircraft has been manufactured in three major standards;
Seven Development Aircraft,
Seven production standard Instrumented Production Aircraft for further system development and a continuing number of Series Production Aircraft.
The production aircraft are now operational with the partner nation’s air forces.
The Tranche 1 aircraft were produced from 2000 onwards.
Aircraft capabilities are being increased incrementally, with each software upgrade resulting in a different standard, known as blocks.
With the introduction of the block 5 standard, the R2 retrofit program began to bring all Tranche 1 aircraft to that standard.
Specifications
Crew
1 or 2
Length
15.96 m (52 ft 4 in)
Wingspan
10.95 m (35 ft 11 in)
Height
5.28 m (17 ft 4 in)
Wing area
51.2 m2 (551 sq ft)
Empty weight
11,000 kg (24,251 lb)
Gross weight
16,000 kg (35,274 lb)
Max take-off weight
23,500 kg (51,809 lb)
Fuel capacity
4,996 kg (11,010 lb) / 6.215 l (1.642 US gal; 1.367 imp gal) internal
Powerplant
2 × Eurojet EJ200 afterburning turbofan engines, 60 kN (13,000 lbf) thrust each dry, 90 kN (20,000 lbf) with afterburner
Performance
Maximum speed
2,125 km/h (1,320 mph, 1,147 kn) / Mach 2.0 (2,125 km/h or 1,320 mph at 11,000 m altitude)
1,530 km/h (950 mph; 830 kn) / Mach 1.25 at sea level (1,530 km/h or 950 mph)
Super cruise
Mach 1.5
Range
2,900 km (1,800 mi, 1,600 nmi)
Combat range
1,389 km (863 mi, 750 nmi) Air defence with 10-min. loiter / Ground attack, hi-lo-hi (with 3 × external 1,000 l tanks)
185 km (100 nmi) Air defence with 3-hr combat air patrol (with 3 × external 1,000 l tanks)
601 km (325 nmi) Ground attack, lo-lo-lo (with 3 × external 1,000 l tanks)
Ferry range
3,790 km (2,350 mi, 2,050 nmi) with 3 × drop tanks
Service ceiling
19,812 m (65,000 ft)
G limits
+9 / -3
Rate of climb
315 m/s (62,000 ft/min)
Wing loading
312 kg/m2 (64 lb/sq ft)
Thrust/weight
1.15 (interceptor configuration)
Armament
Guns
1 × 27 mm Mauser BK-27 revolver cannon with 150 rounds
Hardpoints
Total of 13: 8 × underwing and 5 × under fuselage pylon stations holding in excess of 9,000 kg (19,800 lb) of payload.
Typical multi-role configuration for a Tranche 2-P1E would be 4 × AMRAAM, 2×ASRAAM/IRIS-T,
4 × EGBU-16/Paveway-IV,
2 × 1000-litre supersonic fuel tanks and a targeting pod.
Missiles
Air-to-air missiles
AIM-120 AMRAAM (AIM-120C-5/7 planned for P2E)
MBDA Meteor
IRIS-T
AIM-132 ASRAAM
AIM-9 Sidewinder
Air-to-surface missiles
AGM-65 Maverick
AGM-88 HARM
Brimstone
Taurus KEPD 350
Storm Shadow/Scalp EG
SPEAR 3
Anti-ship missiles:
Marte ER
Joint Strike Missile
Bombs
Paveway II/III/Enhanced Paveway series of laser-guided bombs (LGBs)
500-lb Paveway IV
Small Diameter Bomb (planned for P2E)
Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), in the future
