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Eurofighter Typhoon

The four nation Eurofighter Typhoon is a foreplane delta wing beyond-visual-range and close air fighter aircraft with surface attack capability. Eurofighter has high agility at supresonic speed and 'supercruise' capability, that is it can fly at sustained speeds of over Mach 1 without the use of afterburner.
The company carrying out the development of the aircraft is Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH based in Munich and wholly owned by Alenia of Italy, British Aerospace of the UK, CASA of Spain and DASA of Germany. The company responsible for the development of the EJ200 engine is Eurojet GmbH, in Munich which is owned by Rolls Royce, Motoren und Turbinen Union, Fiat Aviazione and ITP.
An overall production contract for 620 aircraft was signed in January 1998 with 232 for UK, 180 for Germany, 121 for Italy and 87 for Spain. Initial orders have been placed for 148 aircraft - Germany (44), Italy (29), Spain (20) and UK (55). Production is underway on the first of these aircraft which are planned to enter service with the four participating nations in 2002.
Greece has also chosen to join the Eurofighter programme and is to procure 60 to 90 aircraft, with deliveries beginning in 2005.
WEAPONS
As well as an internally mounted 27 mm Mauser gun, the EurofighterTyphoon has thirteen hard points for weapon carriage, four under each wing and five under the fuselage.
For air-to-air combat the standard weapon configuration is four BVRAAM (Beyond Visual Range) Air to Air Missiles, which are mounted in semi-recessed fuselage stations, and two Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missiles, ASRAAMs, on the outer pylons. A mix of up to ten medium range and short range missiles can be carried. The UK RAF are to choose between Matra BAe Dynamics Meteor and Raytheon ERAAM (an improved version of AMRAAM) for the BVRAAM requirement.
Eurofighter has the capability to carry a range of air-to-surface weapons,including the Brimstone and DWS 37 anti-armour weapons, three under each wing and one under the centre fuselage and laser-guided bombs. Avionics pods can be mounted under each wing, for example a laser designator pod.
An Armament Control System (ACS) manages weapons selection and firing and monitors weapon status.
ELECTRONIC WARFARE
The aircraft's electronic warfare suite, the Defensive Aids Sub-System or DASS, is accommodated within the aircraft structure and integrated with aircraft's avionics system. The avionics system is based on a NATO standard databus with fibre optic highways. The DASS includes an electronic countermeasures/electronic support measures system, front and rear threat warnings, decoy systems and chaff and flare dispensers.
The aircraft is equipped with a Forward Looking Infra-red, FLIR and an Infra-red Search and Track system, IRSTwhich provides passive target detection and tracking. The IRST sensor operates in both 3 - 5 and 8 - 11 micron spectral bands.
RADAR
The aircraft is equipped with an ECR 90 multi-mode X-band pulse Doppler radar being developed by the Euroradar industrial consortium. The multi-mode radar has three processing channels. The third channel is used for jammer classification, interference blanking and sidelobe nulling. Euroradar is led by the UK company Marconi Electronic Systems with ENOSA of Spain, FIAR of Italy and DaimlerChrysler Aerospace (DASA) of Germany.
COCKPIT
The pilot's control system is a VTAS Voice-Throttle-and-Stick system. Two dozen finger tip controls are housed on the stick and throttle tops for sensor and weapon control, defence aids management and in-flight handling. The Direct Voice Input allows the pilot to carry out mode selection and data entry procedures using voice command as an alternative to manual systems for tasks such as HUD/MHUDD moding (head up display and multi-function head down display), selection of radio and navigation aids and target selection.
The Helmet Mounted Symbology System (HMS) and the Head Up Display show the flight reference data, weapon aiming and cueing, and the Forward Looking Infra-red imagery. The helmet is being developed by Marconi Electronic Systems and includes a night vision capability and flash and electro-optical threat protection.
The cockpit has three multi-function colour head down displays, MHDDs, which show data relating to the tactical situation, aircraft systems status and map displays. Any of the required data can be shown on the head down displays using the soft-key selection around each display.
PILOT EQUIPMENT
The pilot's equipment specific to Eurofighter includes the helmet, a liquid conditioning suit, a pressure breathing anti-g-force vest, a full body nuclear, biological and chemical warfare protection suit and outer garments for various environmental conditions.
FLIGHT CONTROL
The aircraft design is aerodynamically unstable to provide a high level of agility, low drag and enhanced lift. The pilot controls the aircraft through a computerised digital fly-by-wire system which provides artificial stabilisation and gust elevation to give good control characteristics throughout the flight envelope.
The all-moving foreplanes and the inboard and outboard full span flaperons provide the pitch and role control. The yaw control is achieved with the rudder. The automatic leading edge slats on the wing provide the optimum wing camber for all angles of attack.
Secondary flight control systems include the airbrake, intake cowls, and the nosewheel steering.
ENGINE
The Eurofighter is equipped with two Eurojet EJ200 engines, each delivering very high thrust of 90 kN in full reheat and 60 kN in dry power mode. The engine features:
 
CONSTRUCTION
The aircraft is built primarily as a single-seater, and a fully operational two-seater version is provided for instruction and weapon training exercises. The two-seater aircraft can be flown with the rear seat unoccupied. The aircraft is constructed of carbon fire composites, glass reinforced plastic, aluminium lithium, titanium and aluminium casting.
Source: Mach3/Eurofighter Typhoon

Jirka Wagner