www.eurofighter.com n o t h i n g c o m e s c l o s e

Leader of ForcesTyphoon: Operational with six air forces, the aircraft offers total multi role dominance. Eurofighter Typhoon delivers unparalleled fleet

effectiveness. Designed with an established technology insertion programme - from AESA radar and innovative latest generation helmet

mounted symbology system to advanced air-to-air and air-to-ground weapon systems - the Typhoon is able to counter effectively all

current and evolving threats and will continue at the forefront of combat aircraft for future decades.

PROGRAMME NEWS & FEATURES 3/2010

AESA RADARLAUNCHED

NEW HELMETIN SERVICE

TYPHOON:THE ARCTIC FIGHTER

TOTAL FORCE !EUROFIGHTER REACHES THE REALMS OF F-22

announced the launch of full scale develop-ment of a latest generation Active ElectronicallyScanned Array (AESA) radar during Farnborough.The programme is working towards a 2015 in-service release date and will build on theexceptional capabilities of our current

Mechanically Scanned (M-Scan) radar. After these successes, it is important that Imention the first fatal accident of a EurofighterTyphoon which occurred at Morón Air Base inAugust. I speak not only for myself but onbehalf of everyone working on the Eurofighterprogramme when I send our deepest sympa-thies to the family and friends of the pilot thatlost his life. Eurofighter will continue to offerevery support to the Spanish Ministry ofDefence as the investigation continues intothe crash.

Please enjoy the magazine and here’s to avery successful rest of 2010.

Enzo CasoliniCEO Eurofighter GmbH

33/2010 EUROFIGHTER WORLDE D I T O R I A L

03 EDITORIAL FROM ENZO CASOLINI, CEO EUROFIGHTER GMBH

04 EUROFIGHTER NEWS

08 EUROFIGHTER TYPHOON REACHES THE REALMS OF F-22 RAPTOR

14 THE LATEST GENERATION AESA RADAR BEGINS DEVELOPMENT

14 A PILOT’S PERSPECTIVE ON THE PROSPECT OF WIDE FIELD OF REGARD AESA RADAR

15 AESA TECHNOLOGY

16 HELMET MAKES HEADLINES

16 NAT MAKEPEACE - INTERVIEW

18 AVIO AND THE EJ200 FOR THE EUROFIGHTER TYPHOON

20 THE ARCTIC FIGHTER

23 SUPPLY CHAIN FOCUS

23 INSIDE A EUROFIGHTER AT THE SPEED OF LIGHTEurofighter World is published byEurofighter GmbH, PR & CommunicationsAm Söldnermoos 17, 85399 HallbergmoosTel: +49 (0) 811-80 1587communications@eurofighter.com

Editorial TeamMarco Valerio BonelliKathryn HolmMartina SchmidmeirAxel Haeger-Carrion

PhotographyEurofighter GmbH, Eurofighter Partner CompaniesGeoffrey Lee, PlanefocusItalian Air ForceGerman Air ForceBerit RecklebeVeronica BastyBAE SystemsAlvise PredieriLockheed Martin

Design & Productionimages.art.design. Werbeagentur GmbHwww.iad-design.de

Printed byESTA Druck GmbHwww.esta-druck.de

Eurofighter World on the Internetwww.eurofighter.comFollow us on:

If you would like to request additional copies ofEurofighter World, please contact the PR & Communications Department at Eurofighter GmbHcommunications@eurofighter.com

November 2010

14EUROFIGHTER AND

EURORADAR TO DEVELOPLATEST GENERATION

AESA RADAR

CONTENTS

Title:Eurofighter Typhoon fully loaded over Farnborough International 2010

Photography: Eurofighter - Geoffrey Lee

08TYPHOON VSRAPTOR

3/2010 EUROFIGHTER WORLD

Welcome to anotheredition of theEurofighter Worldmagazine, our third of2010. The magazinehas been a realsuccess since itslaunch at the start of

this year and has not only included all thelatest Eurofighter news but has been makingthe headlines too. Our ‘What is a 5thGeneration fighter?’ feature caused muchdebate across aerospace and defence forumsprompting a presentation by the brains behindthe article to a selection of trade media atFarnborough International Air Show in July. Asyou can see from the picture to the side, eventhe Indian Minister of State in the Ministryof Defence Pallam Raju took some time toread the magazine during a visit to ourimpressive pavilion and full scale replica atFarnborough. The success of the magazine reflects thesuccess of the Eurofighter programme overthe course of the year. We attended both ILABerlin and Farnborough International in thesummer months with a wide variety of expect-ed and unexpected visitors showing aninterest in the aircraft. We have achievedmany significant milestones over the past fewmonths, including the delivery of the 300thright Typhoon wing in Spain, two new Typhoonsquadrons were introduced at RAF Leucharsand Gioia del Colle, there has been a steadyflow of aircraft deliveries to customers (over236 at going to print) and we were able toannounce exciting news for the programme. The hotly anticipated Helmet MountedSymbology System (HMSS) was introduced toall four core nation Air Forces who begantaking delivery of the new equipment in July.To celebrate this fact, Eurofighter test pilotNat Makepeace flew the newly in-servicehelmet daily in his ‘fully loaded’ air displayduring Farnborough. Nat has providedEurofighter World with an interview reviewingthe performance of the HMSS in this edition. Vitally, Eurofighter and its Partner Nations

Enzo CasoliniCEO Eurofighter GmbH

EDIT

ORIA

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Minister of State in the Ministry of Defence PallamRaju reads our magazine at Farnborough Air Show

craft. Following the F-104 came the Tornadothat in the recent past equipped bothSquadrons with two versions of the attackvariant, IDS and the air defense variant,ADV. The X Gruppo Eurofighters will jointhe XII Gruppo’s jets in air policing and airdefence missions, 24 hours-a-day, 7 days aweek, including the role of protecting theair space over the skies of Albania.

300TH EUROFIGHTER WING MANUFACTURED IN SPAIN Another keystone in the life of thelargest European industrial collaborativeprogramme was accomplished in July whenEADS Defence & Security's facilities inGetafe, Spain, celebrated the delivery of the300th right Eurofighter Typhoon wing.

The composite material wing (more than80 percent of Eurofighter is made in com-posite materials), will be integrated in thetwin-seat Eurofighter G021 destined for theGerman Air Force that will be assembled atEADS facilities in Manching, Germany. Having created 22,000 direct and indirectjobs for highly qualified employees inSpain, Eurofighter Typhoon continues toboost the European defence sector andstrengthens the technological impact bothnationally and internationally.

PARTNERSHIP IN ACTION: LUFTWAFFE OPERATIONS IN DECI The Eurofighter showed better opera-tional readiness than any other combat air-craft in service with the Luftwaffe, achiev-ing 80 per cent readiness during their 2010summer deployment of JG 73 (based inLaage, Rostock) in Decimomannu, Sardinia.

16 aircraft and 300 people from Laagewere involved in the exercise. The mission:High value air combat training. A group ofaircraft from the wing spent one month un-der the Sardinian skies in order to fine tunetactics, complete pilot training and test thelogistical structure of the wing.

A benefit to the Luftwaffe’s operations in“Deci” was the large area of free air-spacethat allowed supersonic flight and unlimit-ed manoeuvres to take place over theTyrrhenian Sea, which is within the vicinityof Grosseto Air Base on the Tuscan coast.The Italian Eurofighters of the 4th Stormowere happy to ‘clash’ daily with their Ger-man colleagues in a variety of air-to-air en-counters, that ranged from the BVR (BeyondVisual Range) combat, up to the very shortrange combat, where the battle is often de-cided by the cannon. The Eurofighter is notonly the best performing aircraft at high altitude or in high-speed competitions, butis also a master in agility and manoeuvra-bility. "You can never know which kind ofthreat you could be forced to face - said Lt.Col. Gerd Estendorfer, the Commander of

The X Gruppo of the Italian Air Forcehas become the fourth Italian Squadron tobe equipped with the Eurofighter Typhoon.

The Squadron (X stands for 10 in Romannumerals), is theheir of World War Iace FrancescoBaracca, from whomthey adopted theblack "prancinghorse" emblem. Previously equippedwith F-16 fightersand based at Tra-pani, in Sicily, theGruppo has nowmoved to Gioia delColle, joining theXII Gruppo of the36th Stormo (Wing)which is already flying the Europeanfighter.

The symbolic new start of the “PrancingHorse”, took place during a ceremony inGioia del Colle that saw a fly past of a mixedformation of Eurofighter and F-16’s, markingthe handover from ”Viper” to “Typhoon”.

The large air base of Gioia del Colle, situated on Italy’s heel, close to the town ofBari, was used to host a Wing made up oftwo Squadrons. In the '70s and '80s the36th Stormo was equipped with F-104 air-

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the German detachment - It is better to beprepared for all potential scenarios".

Andrea Truppo, Chief of Operations fromthe 4th Stormo, said: “During the exercisewe flew four Eurofighters, supporting theLuftwaffe aircraft that were ‘playing out’ allpossible scenarios. We were flying ‘with’them and ‘against’ them so that it was pos-sible to validate all tactics and procedures.The final result we obtained was a veryhigh degree of standardisation and of opera-tional integration”. This is certainly one ofthe benefits that the Eurofighter hasbrought to the air forces in Europe: A com-mon platform, common systems, commontraining, common logistics and ground sup-port so the costs are reduced but the effi-ciency and effectiveness increases.

NEW EUROFIGHTER VIDEO: THE BEST EXAMPLE OF PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN EUROPEAN NATIONS Eurofighter Typhoon commemoratedthe 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britainwith a short film of the Typhoon and it'sclassic British counterparts, the Spitfireand Hurricane.

The Eurofighter Typhoon represents theperfect example of what can be achievedthrough European cooperation and how thepartnership between Germany, Italy, Spainand the United Kingdom today produces the world’s most advanced new generationfighter jet. Watch the film online now at: http://www.eurofighter.com/media/video-library

6 SQUADRON TYPHOONS ARRIVE AT RAF LEUCHARS

Pilots from X Gruppo at the handover ceremony at Gioia del Colle

A NEW ITALIAN AIR FORCE SQUADRONEQUIPPED WITH THE EUROFIGHTER

Eurofighter Typhoon celebrated operat-ing at an 11th Air Force base as 6 Squadronsettled into their new home at RAF Leucharsin Fife, Scotland.

The new Typhoon Squadron landed during the annual air show in Septemberand will be the backbone of Britain’s North-ern air policing Quick Reaction Alert (QRA)force, replacing the Tornado F3 of 111Squadron.

The stand up of the Typhoon squadronwas celebrated with an iconic fly past com-prising of a Spitfire, Tornado F3 and the Typhoon in front of thousands of visitors in-

cluding Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton. The display symbolised the past, present and future of the base as well ascommemorating the Battle of Britainachievements 70 years on. 6 Squadron, thelast RAF Squadron to fly the Jaguar, was reformed after three years with the Typhoon and relocated from RAF Coningsby.

The new Typhoon squadron is the first ofthree planned at the base and will take overQRA duties in March 2011. 6 Squadron willnow spend the next few months trainingand reaching combat readiness in prepara-tion for the handover of responsibilities

K.H.

EUROFIGHTER CELEBRATE THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FRECCE TRICOLORI Eurofighter Typhoon celebrated the50th anniversary of the Frecce Tricolori atRivolto airshow which took place on the11th - 12th of September in the Northeast-ern Italian Air Force Base. Rivolto was notonly a massive event (around 500,000 visi-tors in 2 days), but also a successful one, aslots of acrobatic national teams, such as Pa-trouille de France, Patrouille Suisse, Patrul-la Águila, Biało-Czerwone Iskry, the PolishAir Forces aerobatic team, the Red Arrows,Krila Oluje (Wings of Storm) the CroatianAir Forces aerobatic team, the Breitling JetTeam, the Royal Jordanian Falcons and ofcourse the Frecce Tricolori themselves,were on display.

The Italian Air Force’s Eurofighter Ty-phoon from the "Reparto Sperimentale diVolo" of Pratica di Mare, was on flying dis-play over both days of the event, just beforethe Frecce Tricolori and therefore almosteverybody was on the side of the runawayto witness the impressive and much ac-claimed show.

The Eurofighter Typhoon stand at theshow was one of the main pivots of the visi-tors at Rivolto. Placed centrally at the show,the stand was right next to the two staticdisplays of the Typhoon and therefore aneye catcher.

EUROFIGHTER AND JUNKERS LAUNCH ANEW WATCH Eurofighter joined forces with the fa-mous watch makers Junkers, who designwatches for elite pilots, to create a limitededition Eurofighter Typhoon watch. Junkersis known for high tech, high performance,affordability and excellent quality which arecharacteristics associated closely with the

Eurofighter Typhoon. The limited series ofthe Eurofighter-Junkers watch willbe engraved withthe edition, the Eurofighter Typhoon logo andthe Junkers symbolon the back of theencasement.

PIESTANY NATIONAL AIR DAYS IN SLOVAKIA - THE UNIQUE AIR SHOW IN THECENTRE OF EUROPE In May 2010 Eurofighter travelled intothe heartland of Europe to attend the fourthPiestany National Air Days, officially called‘Narodne Letecke Dni’ in Slovakian. Thisyear saw Eurofighter Typhoon’s debut at theshow which is located 90 kilometres northeast from the Slovakian capital of Bratislava.Eurofighter GmbH proudly demonstratedthe power and agility of the Typhoon at thisspecial air show which is surrounded by the

beautiful scenery of the old spa town, hometo the country’s historical aeronautical mu-seum. Piestany boasts a proud history ofaviation and this year’s show continued theSlovak aviation legacy on the weekend ofthe 29th and 30th of May with an over-whelming number of visitors – some 50,000who came from across Europe to be part ofthe event. Underlining the strong European focus atthe show, two Eurofighter Typhoon aircraftparticipated, one from Italy, piloted by theAlenia Aeronautica test pilot Matteo Maur-izio and the second from first export cus-tomer Austria. The Austrian Air Force jetdelivered several high speed passes overthe runway of Piestany airport before climb-ing vertically to high altitude and returningto its home base in Zeltweg, around 350kilometres from Piestany.In Slovakia, the Eurofighter Typhoon is acknowledged as being the ideal solutionfor the replacement of the Slovak AirForce’s MiG-29 fleet which in the mediumterm has to be replaced with a more moderndefence system. The European solution offered by Eurofight-er would not only provide the Slovakian AirForce with a highly capable combat and de-fence aircraft, but it can also help to sustainand develop the capabilities of the Slova-kian defence industry and its skilled work-force, including industrial partnerships, associated transfer of technology, and theoffer of strong bilateral economic benefitsacross Europe.

M.S.

The Italian Ambassador in Slovakia, Brunella Borzi Cornacchiaand the Alenia test pilot Matteo Maurizio

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EUROFIGHTER TYPHOON: THE PERFECT SOLUTION FOR POLANDMSPO 2010 exhibition at Kielce Eurofighter continued its season of au-tumn shows with a large presence in Kielce,Poland as the international defence consor-tium develops further its relationshipsacross Europe. Eurofighter Typhoon had afirst time presence at the 18th InternationalDefence Industry Exhibition (MSPO) whichbegan on Monday the 6th September andran through to the 9th. The well attendedevent saw over 360 exhibitors representinga wide variety of nations and the Eurofight-er exhibit drew in many of them.

With a potential future requirement for anew multi-role aircraft that provides thePolish Air Force with a long-term deterrent,Eurofighter and its partner companies: BAE Systems, EADS and Alenia Aeronauti-ca, can offer significant benefits for Polishindustry including industrial partnerships,associated transfer of technology, and theoffer of strong bilateral economic benefitsacross Europe.

The Eurofighter exhibit at MSPO dis-played a selection of current and future capabilities on the aircraft including thenewly in-service Helmet Mounted Symbolo-gy System (HMSS) and the recently an-nounced Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) Radar.

EUROFIGHTER FOR BULGARIA In the middle of September 2010, Bulgarian Defence Minister Anyu Angelovstated that the tender for the procurementof 16 new fighter jets in Bulgaria will be announced at the beginning of 2011 withthe new aircraft being selected by the middle of 2012.

Bulgaria, being a full member of NATOsince 2004, has launched a challengingarmed forces modernisation programme tomeet the requirements of the organisation.Having already procured Army vehicles; helicopters; transport aircraft and ships; thenew multi-role fighter is the latest capabili-ty to be tendered.

The Bulgarian government announcedthat it will choose between the F-16, Gripen,or Eurofighter Typhoon jets. Bulgaria hassaid that they expect to begin taking deliv-ery of the aircraft by 2015. The country islooking to replace its ageing MiG-29 fleetand is especially focusing its requirementson full interoperability with other NATOforces.

In order to build on the long term, closerelationship between the German Luftwaffeand the Bulgarian Air Force, Eurofighter attended the 9th International DefenceEquipment Exhibition HEMUS at Plovdiv,Bulgaria in May and was a major attractionon site.

A NEW “NOSE” FOR THE EUROFIGHTERPROTOTYPE The Eurofighter DA1 made its maidenflight at EADS’ Manching test facility, Ger-many, on 27 March 1994 and was decom-missioned on 21 December 2005.

The Eurofighter prototype had been ondisplayed since 2007 in the Schleissheimermuseum, without its original radome. Theonly solution for the Museum was to build amakeshift radome, similar to the originalone. With the help of NETMA, BAE Systemsand EADS Manching, Eurofighter was ableto donate a real radome which has been in-stalled on the DA1 aircraft, to the museum.

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EUROFIGHTER BUILDS LINKS WITH THECZECH REPUBLICThe Typhoon attended both Hradec Králové andOstrava Air Shows

September saw Eurofighter Typhoon ventureto the Czech Republic to attend two key Europeanair shows held in the country. With a potential re-quirement for a new, more capable and fully NATOcompatible fighter to replace the Air Force’s exist-ing leased JAS 39 Gripen fleet, Eurofighter is keento build a lasting relationship with the Czech AirForce and Czech industry as well as familiarise thepublic with the World’s most advanced new gener-ation multi-role combat aircraft.

Starting off the month was the Czech Interna-tional Air Festival (CIAF) which is held over theweekend of the 4th and 5th September at HradecKrálové and saw an operational German Eurofight-er Typhoon on static display.

Secondly, over the 18th-19th September was the10th annual NATO Days event in Ostrava whichboasts being the largest air, army and securityshow in Central Europe. In addition to a strongCzech presence, like in Hradec Králové, there wasan international array of exhibitors ranging fromthe US and France, to Romania, Hungary, Poland,and the UK. In both air shows Eurofighter heldstands that attracted aviation fans and professionalvisitors.

The European solution offered by the Eurofight-er Typhoon could help to sustain and develop thecapabilities of the Czech defence industry and develop its skilled workforce. Through internation-al collaboration and a designated technology inser-tion programme, involvement in the Typhoon pro-gramme would ensure the nation’s air force fliesthe most advance new generation aircraft for thecoming decades.

K.H.

EUROFIGHTER TYPHOON: THE HEIR TO A CENTURY OF AIR POWER

Eurofighter Typhoon launched a seriesof heritage documentaries tracing the tech-nological development of high-tech militaryaviation in Europe in July.

The films are available to watch online atwww.eurofighter.com.

Four versions were launched simultane-ously featuring the specific aviation historiesfrom the core partner countries of the UK,Germany, Italy and Spain. All provide a 10minute insight into these leading aviation nations and each in their native tongue. Thedocumentaries explore the timeline from thefirst combat aircraft in the early 1900’s, cul-minating in the introduction into service ofthe World’s most advanced, multi-role com-bat aircraft: the Eurofighter Typhoon. Theaircraft is the latest product in an evolution-ary process of elite manufacturing, materi-als, equipments, capabilities and weapons.

The documentaries were filmed at vari-ous locations across the four nations includ-ing air force bases and aviation museums

with contributions from a selec-tion of aviation experts. The cat-alogue of aircraft featured in-cludes the classic British Spit-fire and Meteor - the firstoperational jet in RAF squadronservice, the Spad XIII which intandem with the Schneider Cupidros became symbols of prideand capability for the Italianaerospace industry. The ‘Rata’from the Spanish Civil War isfeatured as well as the FirstWorld War fighter aircraftFokker Dr.I and the Bf 109 - thefirst modern German fighter ofthe 1930s – and the Me 262, allthe first operational fighter jet, icons offighter technology evolution.

All aircraft featured are representative ofpushing back the frontiers of advancedaerospace technology, and the present-dayTyphoon has been able to benefit from the

evolution of manufacturing and technologi-cal processes in Europe that began with thefirst of its above named predecessors.

K.H.

Eurofighter Typhoon is the most suc-cessful new generation multi-role combataircraft in European aerospace with 707units on order across six nations. Interna-tional market forecasts show a need formore than 800 fighters over the next 20years. With a potential to supply at least

200 of those aircraft, Eurofighter Typhoonunsurprisingly turned its attentions to ex-port over the summer months and in doingso, made sure they were present at a host ofkey air shows.

Biennial air shows ILA Berlin in Juneand Farnborough International in July sawthe full Eurofighter team out to meet andgreet delegations from around the world. In Berlin, a live EJ200 engine change drewin the crowds as a joint team from the Luft-waffe and EADS carried out the technicalprocedures and was the first time such aprocess has been undertaken in public. Major Sebastian Taubert from the GermanLuftwaffe was on hand to talk visitorsthrough the process and explain how ittakes only four skilled crew members to carry out the switch and can be completed under operational conditions in less than 45 minutes.

At Farnborough International, Typhoonmade a rare demonstration of its unrivalledagility and engine power with a full weaponload air display. In total, two Typhoon jetstook part in the show’s daily display of aircapabilities, one from RAF’s 29 Squadronwhich flew ‘clean’ as with all display air-craft, and the second, a Warton based UKdevelopment jet (IPA 5) which took off im-mediately after the RAF aircraft landed, flying with a full weapon configurationrarely seen at air shows.

IPA 5 flew with all 13 hard points occu-pied in a full swing-role configuration, in-cluding four Paveway II laser guided bombs,three fuel tanks, four AMRAAMs (AdvancedMedium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles) and twoASRAAMs (Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missiles). The display highlighted to

ILA BERLIN. FARNBOROUGH INTERNATIONAL. RIAT.

OUTWARDLY FOCUSED

both trade and public visitors that the Typhoon is agile regardless of weapon load,pulling up to an impressive 5.5g and in excess of a 20 degree angle of attack. Mostair displays are achieved by reducing fueland weapon loads, however with this display, IPA 5 was able to demonstrate sig-nificant weapon carriage and manoeuvrabil-ity whilst still being able to demonstratecarefree handling for the pilot.

In addition to the air display, two moreEurofighters Typhoons were on the groundat the show. An Italian Air Force aircraftwas on static display at the Finmeccanicastand and a mock-up Eurofighter was outside the Eurofighter pavilion for visitorsto sit in the cockpit.

At centre stage of the large Eurofighterpavilion were the aircraft’s new capabilities,the newly in-service Helmet Mounted Sym-bology System (HMSS) manufactured byBAE Systems Rochester and the EuroradarAESA Active Electronically Scanned Arrayradar which was announced during Farn-borough as having begun full scale develop-ment on the 1st July. The radar drew a greatdeal of interest during both shows and onhand to provide briefings to guests were Euroradar representatives who are develop-ing this new generation capability. Thesewere alongside other future/enhanced capa-bilities, such as the EUROJET thrust vector-ing nozzle and the Meteor air-to-air missile.

Our annual attendance at the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) at Fairford,in July, saw a Eurofighter sponsored aircrewenclosure in the year that the UK celebrated70 years since the Battle of Britain. The2010 RAF Typhoon display pilot Tim Clementsput on a powerful show of capabilities dur-ing the event, with a polished air displayover the weekend.

K.H.

The Typhoon and Meteor jets fly above the Britishcountryside

From left to right - Gerhard Filchner, Erwin Obermeier, Ludwig Dorn celebrate delivery of the new Radome

Typhoon atFarnboroughInternational2010

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It is now evident that the boundaries between the 4th and 5th generation classifi-cations are sometimes too rigid andschematic to reflect the real capabilities of aweapon system. This was particularly thecase for Eurofighter Typhoon, which ex-hibits all the qualities of a 5th generationfighter with the exception of Very Low Ob-servability (VLO) yet is well above the lega-cy 4th generation platforms in all othermeasures of performance. (EurofighterWorld 02/2010; pg 16)

It was also evident that, scoring Typhoonagainst the ‘admission criteria’ of the 5thgeneration club, would produce a muchhigher compliance than, let’s say, the JSF F-35, which is heavily marketed as a 5thgeneration fighter but that in reality wouldbe better defined ‘A-35’ (an attack aircraft,not a fighter).

Given the ‘surprising’ commonality ofkey design features highlighted by the 5thGeneration Fighter Checklist (see tableabove right), it may be worth exploring fur-ther the Typhoon and Raptor design con-cepts and the philosophy behind their oper-ational requirements.

During the Cold War, the NATO-WarsawPact confrontation was the most dominantthreat in terms of the requirements drivingthe design of fighter aircraft. The genesis ofthe Eurofighter Typhoon and of the F-22ARaptor can be traced back to a common con-ceptual thinking: quality vs. quantity; airdominance as the foundation and premisefor overall military success; considerablemargin of superiority vs. the highest threat.

Two different solutions were pursued:with many similarities, but also with somekey differences. The end result: on one sidethe ultimate gold-plated solution whicheventually becomes unaffordable even forthe most powerful nation on earth, and onthe other side, a balanced approach which‘can do the job’, but with a forward lookingplan to upgrade the initial superiority asthe threat evolves, new technologies matureand their costs drop.

In both cases, the main design objectivewas to deliver a sizeable weapon load (inter-estingly both sides came to the same con-clusion, i.e. 6 medium range AMRAAM and2 infrared missiles as the optimum firepow-er for a modern fighter). They both wanted

3/2010 EUROFIGHTER WORLD M A R K E T A N A LY S I S8

EUROFIGHTER REACHESTHE REALMS OF THE F-22

SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES EUROFIGHTER TYPHOON AND F-22SQUARE UP

Significant to note however is the factthat where the Raptor needs 70,000-lb ofthrust and has an empty weight of about20t, Typhoon requires only 40,000-lb ofthrust and weighs less than 12t. The extraweight means that more fuel (9t vs 5t) is required to achieve similar fuel fractions(and similar mission performance results).This adds to the overall weight and feedsthe vicious circle, where more weight inturn requires more thrust to achieve the desired thrust-to-weight ratio! More wingarea is of course needed to achieve competi-tive wing loading, turning performance as

the maximum energy level (speed and alti-tude, but also acceleration and supersonicmanoeuvrability) to achieve the highestlethality and survivability.

Both Eurofighter and F-22 designs optedfor the best aerodynamic performances pos-sible in the subsonic and high supersonicdomains. The two aircraft aimed for thrust-to-weight ratios, wing loading and fuel frac-tions typical of a top performance fighter.No compromises were allowed in this vitalarea, as both design teams understood thatthe air superiority demands shape the airvehicle configuration and aerodynamic per-

formance to the highest levels allowed bytechnological know-how. Thus the end re-sult is a higher capability platform than onecompromised by too many air-to-ground re-quirements (Rafale and JSF are cases inpoint).

The key difference between the Eurofight-er and the F-22 was in the approach to thesurvivability equation, which in the Rap-tor´s case was to go for a Very Low Observ-ability (VLO) design and, consequently, forthe internal carriage of the design weaponload, but at what cost in terms of affordabili-ty, mass, complexity and inflexibility?

TYPHOON F-22 RaptorReference Threat Flanker FlankerThrust-to-Weight Ratio >1.10 >1.10Wing Loading [kg/m2] <330 <350Fuel Fraction ≈0.30 ≈0.30High Altitude Operations [ft] >55,000 >55,000High Supersonic Manoeuvrability Key Driver Key DriverHigh Subsonic Manoeuvrability YES YESSupercruise YES Key DriverOptimal Missile Loadout 6M+2S 6M+2S

Radar Mech/AESA AESARadar Side Arrays (Wide GoV) Wide FoV CancelledFLIR / IRST (Passive) YES CancelledESM (Passive) YES YES +Networking Capability Full Rx Only (Now)

Survivability Concept Balanced VLO

Cost to Procure and Operate $$ $$$$$Production Plans 707 vs 620 187 vs 750

KEY AIR VEHICLE DESIGN RATIOS ALMOST IDENTICAL:Thrust-to-Weight Ratio >1.10 >1.10Thrust-to-Weight Ratio >1.10 >1.10Fuel Fraction ≈0.30 ≈0.30

BIG PENALTY:

Zero Fuel Mass 12t vs 20tInternal Fuel 5t vs 9tThrust required 40,000lb vs 70,000lbWing Area 50m2 vs 78m2

F-22: Much bigger & Heavier & $$$$

The last five percent of the perfor-mance may be worth over thirtypercent of the cost – the issue is tounderstand that.

Eurofighter Typhoon

F-22 Raptor

The combination of high kinematic per-formance, new generation multi-spec-tral sensor suite and formidable fire-

power, positions Typhoon well above anyother fighter available on the market.

‘Best in class’; ‘Number 1 rating’; ‘Bettercost and fleet effectiveness’: Are they sim-ply slogans in the fighter arena? Some con-siderations need to be made.

The F-22 Raptor

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USAF. In such cases, as history shows us,the procurement quantities tend to be re-vised downwards, unit prices trend up-wards, and a slow death spiral gets underway. The end result for the F-22 programmewas that the US could no longer afford theinitial 750 aircraft, nor the 330 aircraftminimum requirement, settling for only 187 machines. (Note that the JSF pro-gramme has been exhibiting all these nega-tive trends at an exceedingly early stage!)

Eurofighter and the core partner nationswere aware that the VLO solution wouldhave provided that extra combat effective-ness, but were also conscious that theywere entering the ugly portion of the “cost-reward curve", where small amounts of ex-tra performance are paid for very dearly.Chasing the last 5-10% of performancewhere the “Law of Diminishing Returns”kicks in brutally, was deliberately avoided,even though the relevant VLO design know-how was available in-house (Re: The

10

well as manoeuvrability up to a high super-sonic regime. The result is a big aeroplane.

The VLO design represents a heavypenalty in terms of extra mass (+67%) andengine thrust (+75%) required. It is unlikelythat the whole difference can be attributedto the VLO aspect alone, but it is also truethat the difference would be much smallerhad we compared the Raptor with an aver-age 4th generation fighter. Typhoon´s ex-ceptional structural efficiency, aerodynamicfinesse and innovative architectural solu-tions (e.g. unstable platform) contributeconsiderably to the above-mentioned gapand are a further testimony to its overall de-sign quality.

Given the strong correlation between air-craft mass and affordability, such a penaltyis of course also reflected in the acquisitioncost. Adding to the initial cost of the extramaintenance required by the VLO design,the life cycle cost of the weapon system isbrought to prohibitive levels, even for the

Lampyridae Project in Germany, a secretprogramme of the 80’s now in the GerhardNeumann Museum in Niederalteich). In factseveral LO features were incorporated inthe Eurofighter design!

Eurofighter not only knew about the se-vere weight penalties and the extra costs as-sociated with the VLO design, but was alsoconscious that it represented a heavy bur-den on the operating costs and missionavailability. So the choice was for a bal-anced survivability and approach for anadaptable growth capability going forward.

EUROFIGHTER VS F-22 CAPABILITIES

Taking as a starting reference a Typhoonwith the mechanical scan radar, the EurojetEJ200 engines and armed with 6 AMRAAMand 2 Short Range Missiles, a quantum leapin air combat capability will be achieved

with the introduction of the new Meteor Be-yond Visual Range missile. The perfor-mances of this missile will change the gamerules in the fighter domain and will caterfor the planned improvements to the poten-tial threats in the medium term.

Consistent with a strategy of introducingnew features only when the relevant tech-nologies have reached a satisfactory maturi-ty level and an optimal pricing point, Eu-rofighter is planning a second step with therecently announced introduction of the Cap-tor-E AESA radar. Bearing in mind the vitalrole played by the sensor´s wide field of re-gard (together with a high sustained turnrate at high Mach levels, say Mach 1.6) insurviving the opponent´s counter-fire, thenew AESA antenna will also be steerable tocover around 200deg in azimuth.

It is worth remembering that the Rap-tor´s original design foresaw two AESA sideplates to supplement the front plate limitedfield of regard and thus increasing its com-bat effectiveness. This solution, togetherwith the IRST, was eventually dropped forcost reasons and ultimately sacrificed to theVLO altar. Not considering the fact that theF-22 looks intrinsically inflexible, the air-craft has to carry all weapons internally inorder to maintain the costly VLO performances.

If the sensor suite and situational awareness of the F-22 is rightly consideredbest-in-class, how would one define the Typhoon´s new sensor suite?

Bearing in mind that with respect to theRaptor the Eurofighter offers:

• Latest generation of transmit/receivermodules vs 1990 technology

• Azimuth coverage 200deg vs 120deg• IRST vs no IRST• Full Link 16 datalink vs receive-only

data link

Whatever the definition might be, it isquite evident that Typhoon is keepingahead of the potential threat by insertingnew capabilities when needed, in a cost-effective fashion and that, in doing so, ismoving into Raptor´s territory for what concerns air combat effectiveness levels(see bar chart above).

The level of the F-22 air combat effec-tiveness indicated in the chart is from theAnalysis of Alternatives study conducted byDRA for the UK Government (See alsoRAND study “The Gray Threat” at page 28 — which concluded that Raptor´s cost effectiveness was lower than Typhoon´s).

EUROFIGHTER BEST INCLASS

It is no exaggeration to characterise Eu-rofighter Typhoon as the best-in-class aero-dynamic platform with the most powerfuland advanced AESA radar, armed with themost lethal Meteor long range missiles, Iris-T and ASRAAM short-range missiles.

And last but not least: as with all truefighters whose fundamental design choicesare shaped by air superiority requirements,Typhoon is moving briskly into new surfaceattack roles by integrating an ever increas-ing array of air-to-surface weapons and expanding sensor functionalities.

The synergistic combination of highkinematic performance, new generationmulti-spectral sensor suite and formidablefirepower, positions Typhoon well above any other fighter available on the market.Never has our motto "Nothing comes close"been more appropriate.

O.F.

Soviet ResponseAir SuperiorityHigh End

Multirole(Air Superiority)Low End

F-14

F-15A

F-16A

F/A-18A

NATO Response

F-22A

Eurofighter Typhoon

Multirole(Air Superiority Optimised)

Air SuperioritySU-27 Flanker

Air Superiority(Low End)Mig-29

Multirole (Strike)

F-16E

F/A-18E

Multirole (Strike Optimised)

JSF

UCAV

Future Trend

Evolutionary Upgrades / from Fighter to Fighter-Bomber

MANNED FIGHTERS – EVOLUTION AND TRENDS

1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000

EUROFIGHTER TYPHOON & F-22 RAPTOR – CLOSING THE GAP COST EFFECTIVENESS

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

F-22 Air Combat Effectiveness Band

EJ20

06

AM

RAM

2 ad

v. S

RMM

ech.

Rada

r

EJ20

06

Met

eor

2 ad

v. S

RM

EJ23

06

Met

eor

2 ad

v. S

RMA

ESA

Rad

ar

Com

bat

Effe

ctiv

enes

s

Technology Insertion Phased Approach:

Capability is Threat-Justified The Technology is Mature At the Right Price Point

(Effectiveness results are scenario dependant. Data shown versus non-VLO threat fighters)

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Eurofighter Test Pilot Nat Makepeace walks away from his Eurofighter at Farnborough Air Show wearing the new HMSS

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greater the detection range. A rapidly mov-ing mechanical scanner is used to sweepthe beam to cover a wedge of sky ahead ofthe aircraft. Mechanical gimbal systems traditionally limit the coverage to 60-70° on either side of the aircraft’s nose.

With all mechanical systems there is theever present potential of breakdown, whichwould render the fighter essentially useless.Furthermore, the transmitted power is pro-vided by a single high power RF tube, whichis in turn powered by a high voltage powersupply. The transmitting tube and the pow-er supply are often the least reliable compo-nents of the radar system and failure of either device again renders the aircraftblind. In an effort to improve reliability andincrease transmitted power, research anddevelopment work led towards the AESAradar, where the radar scanner, transmitterand high voltage power supply are replacedby an array of miniature, low voltage Trans-mit Receive Modules (TRMs) which are ableto create a radar beam capable of moving instantly anywhere within the forward fieldof view. E-Scan radars offer significantly improved detection and tracking perfor-mance. Additionally should some of theseTRMs fail there is only a minimal loss inradar performance and no loss of mission,this is known as ‘Graceful Degradation’ andis a significant factor in increasing theMTBF (Mean Time Before Failure) of theradar system.

However, there is one important drawback of early “fixed position” AESA radars,and that is the fact that at the larger, moreacute, electronically scanned angles, thetransmitted power (and hence detectionrange) reduces significantly. To fully appre-ciate the impact of this issue, it is importantto understand the tactics employed to ensure survival in today’s typical BVR (Beyond Visual Range) engagement.

First look, first shoot and first kill allmakes perfect sense, but the unspoken partof that mantra is also to avoid being killedyourself shortly thereafter. Modern fightersbeing such that it is likely that if you canfire, your opponent will also be able to fireat or about the same time. After the triggeris pressed and the missile leaves the air-

craft the pilot will turn as far away from histarget as he possibly can, to put as muchdistance between itself and the potential incoming missile. However, for a finite timehe needs to keep his intended target withinhis radar’s field of regard. In doing this theradar is able to track the target and sendguidance correction messages to the missileuntil the point when the missile itself cansee its target. At that point the pilot canturn further away, and “run away bravely”,outrunning the likely incoming missile.

Hopefully the issue is clear; with lesspower at the extremes of its Field of Regard,a flat plate equipped AESA radar cannotturn away as far as a mechanicallyequipped opponent, his radar lacks thepower necessary to continue tracking histarget at the ranges where current radarguided missiles can be launched. In the future with the introduction of Meteor ad-vanced air-to-air missile, this problem be-comes even more important.

To overcome the short-comings of earlyfixed position, flat plate E-Scan radars, Typhoon’s solution will feature a WFoRRepositioner. This Repositioner, mechanical-ly moves the array and in the process off-sets the electronic FoR to one side or anoth-er. This will also postpone the onset of sig-nificant power drop off of the AESA radar beyond the current Azimuth limits and in-

An innovative cutting edge AESA radar system, recon-firms Eurofighter as the most advanced aircraftavailable on the market.

Eurofighter GmbH and Euroradar, together with theirindustrial partners, have begun full scale development of alatest generation Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar. The target in-service date for the new radaris 2015 to meet the requirements of Eurofighter PartnerNations and export customers.

Eurofighter CEO Enzo Casolini said of the decision“This is an important step in the Eurofighter programmeand will ensure that Typhoon continues to lead the way asthe world’s best new generation multi-role combat aircraft.In consultation with our Core Nation customers we can offer an AESA capability that far exceeds any other radaravailable. This capability will mean that Eurofighter is inthe best possible position when offering Typhoon to the export market. The in-service date means we are perfectlypositioned to respond to the complex and demanding requirements of the air forces”.

The decision means that Eurofighter will further devel-op the capability of the Typhoon aircraft to enhance itsradar performance, building on preliminary developmentand flight testing undertaken since 2007. Although the current Mechanically Scanned (M-Scan) radar is consid-ered to be best in class, AESA technology will see the Typhoon's radar capabilities developed even further. Theplanned AESA radar will offer a variety of benefits over M-Scan, including increased detection and tracking ranges,advanced air-to-surface capability and enhanced electronicprotection measures.

The new radar will retain the key features of the exist-ing Captor radar architecture in order to exploit the matu-rity of the current system and will use latest generationtechnology to provide a full complement of air-to-air andair-to-surface modes. The large array can be accommodatedeasily in the Typhoon’s radome and, being fitted on a repo-sitioner, will provide an extremely wide field of regard.This will see Typhoon's combat effectiveness enhancedeven further, allowing the Typhoon to outperform any other aircraft available on the market. The radar will offercustomers the freedom to retrofit their existing Typhoonswhen required. The radar will have significant growth po-tential and both existing and new customers will be able toparticipate in tailoring the radar to meet their individualoperational requirements.

Euroradar is a multi-national consortium lead by SELEXGalileo, a Finmeccanica Company, alongside EADS DefenceElectronics and Indra. Euroradar has delivered over 250Captor mechanically scanned radars into the Typhoon programme to date and this experience will ensure a time-ly and smooth transition to AESA.

K.H.

First look, first shoot, first kill has longbeen the mantra of desire for fighterpilots the world over. The first look

part of that desire more often than not hascome from the aircraft’s fire control radarsystem. Since the early days of radar,around the battles of WWII, the race hasbeen on to increase the range at which thatimportant first look can be provided and toincrease the reliability of providing it to thepilot.

Whilst the Typhoon’s Captor M is widelyregarded as the most capable mechanicallyscanned radar ever fielded, the time is nowright to take the next logical step of intro-ducing the electronically scanned (E-Scan)Captor E AESA radar system. The integra-tion of Captor E AESA with its unique WideField of Regard (WFoR) Repositioner intothe Typhoon weapon system will provideTyphoon pilots with a critical winning advantage over their potential adversaries.WFoR Captor E AESA and Typhoon will setthe standard for all future fighters.

To understand why Typhoon has waitedto take the step into the AESA arena it isimportant to consider a little of the basicprinciples of radar. Radar (Radio Detectionand Ranging) involves transmitting and receiving a beam of radio energy. In simpleterms, the more powerful the beam, the

A PILOT’S PERSPECTIVE ON THE PROSPECT OF WIDEFIELD OF REGARD AESA RADAR

BY CRAIG PENRICE, TYPHOON TEST PILOT

AESA TECHNOLOGY:

A PILLAR OF GROWTH FOR THE EUROFIGHTER TYPHOON PLATFORM

The Euroradar consortium, (led by SELEX Galileo withpartners EADS Defence & Security of Germany andIndra of Spain), has invested heavily in Active Elec-

tronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar technology over thelast 16 years.

During that time a number of Technology DemonstratorProgrammes have been executed, each one taking AESA ca-pability on Typhoon to a new level. These programmes in-clude AMSAR (Airborne Multirole Solid State Active ArrayRadar) and CECAR (Captor E-Scan Risk-reduction). As partof the CECAR programme, the CAESAR (Captor ActiveElectronically Scanning Array Radar) flew with great suc-cess on Eurofighter Typhoon DA-5 on May 2007.

The Euroradar investment has focussed the enablingcore AESA technologies such as high performance Trans-mit Receive Modules (TRM’s) and Array configuration. Thetiming is now right to move into full scale production de-velopment to provide the latest generation AESA radar forEurofighter Typhoon.

The radar will rely heavily on the “back-end” processorand receiver architecture from the existing best-in-classCaptor mechanically scanned radar. This will ensure mini-mum disruption to the mature Typhoon weapon systemand allow a timely and smooth transition to AESA.

EUROFIGHTER AND EURORADAR TO DEVELOP LATEST GENERATION

AESA RADAR

crease it even beyond current mechanicallyscanned radar limits into the area of +/-100º. In simple terms, with this capabilitythe WFoR Repositioner AESA equipped Typhoon pilot will be able to increase hisseparation from a threatening missile at almost twice the rate of his fixed plate AE-SA equipped opposition. Now that really isa capability worth having.

The WFoR feature combined with air-to-surface radar modes such as Synthetic Aper-ture Radar (SAR) and Ground Moving TargetIndication (GMTI) maintain Eurofighter Typhoon’s truly discriminating performanceand superior operational capability.

IN SUMMARYPerformance of the Typhoon AESA radar

will be unmatched in the export market-place. The very large aircraft nose – some-thing that the Eurofighter competitors can-not achieve - allows for an optimised arrayand with the addition of an innovativeRepositioner, the Field of Regard is +/-100% which is some 50% wider than tradi-tional fixed plate systems.This wide field of view has significant benefits in both air-to-air and air-to-surface engagements allow-ing Typhoon to turn away from, but still engage, target aircraft and carry out highresolution SAR modes whilst maintaining asafe distance from enemy forces.

90°

>90°

0°

60°

Fixed Plate 1st Generation AESARadar with comparable aperturesize to Eurofighter Typhoon

Wide Field of Regard Captor E Latest Generation AESA Radar

The AESA Repositioner providesenhanced angular coveragecombined with optimum rangeperformance

Radar continuesto track targetand data link tomissile throughturn

Aircraft can complete engagement afterturn, flying across range with arraypositioned to look sideways and behind

Initial targetdetection inforward direction

As aircraft banksin turn – arrayrepositioned tolook to side anddownwards

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AIR FORCES TAKE DELIVERY OF A LATEST TECHNOLOGY HELMET MOUNTED SYMBOLOGY SYSTEM

HELMET MAKES HEADLINES

In July 2010 the Royal Air Force, SpanishAir Force, Italian Air Force and the Ger-man Luftwaffe began taking delivery of

the most advanced Helmet Mounted Sym-bology System (HMSS) available for fighterpilots and forms a key component of theirEurofighter Typhoon weapon systems. Thenew HMSS was flown throughout the weekof Farnborough Air Show in mid-July by Eurofighter test pilot Nat Makepeace in theair display.

The HMSS passive and stealthy sensorsystem, developed and manufactured byBAE Systems Rochester, provides the Eu-rofighter pilot with significant operationaladvantages by reducing pilot workload andincreasing the weapon envelope in combatsituations. The Eurofighter pilot will be ableto instantly designate targets with full headmovement, reducing the need for in-cockpitswitch selection and aircraft manoeuvring.This exploits the full potential of high off-boresight missiles such as IRIS-T and AS-RAAM which can now be deployed withoutthe need to turn the aircraft on to the target.

The HMSS significantly improves tacti-cal performance for Eurofighter pilots, byproviding essential flight and weapon aim-ing information through line of sight im-agery. Information imagery includes the aircraft’s flight parameters, weapons statusand aiming which are all projected on theHEA (Head Equipment Assembly) visor,thereby enabling the pilot to simultaneouslylook out in any direction (head out) andhave all required flight and weapon aiminginformation always in his field of vision.

NAT MAKEPEACE INTERVIEWNat Makepeace is a Eurofighter test pilot for BAE Sys-tems. Having flown in the RAF for 22 years, Nat’s experi-ence varies; ranging from aircraft such as the Hawk, Tornado and Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft for the RAF,but also with the F-16 as an exchange pilot in the US AirForce. Now based at BAE Systems’ Warton site, Nat hasbeen a Project pilot for Tornado GR4 upgrade andday/night HMD development as well as a Project pilot onASRAAM and smart weapon upgrades for the F-16. Hisflying hours total over 4,500 as of July 2010 when Natflew the ‘fully loaded’ Typhoon all week during the Farn-borough International Air Show. Here he shares histhoughts on the HMSS which he wore during the display.

Nat, you flew the helmet daily during Farnborough in theair display. How did you find it?The helmet was reliable all week. It performed well andenabled me to see key performance parameters clearly.Being almost as light and only slightly more complicatedthan a normal helmet, I had no problems with it. Were there any other pilots wearing similar equipment?Not to the best of my knowledge. The F-18 and F-16 both flya similar system which is not quite as advanced as ours, butI don’t believe they flew with it at the show. How long have you been flying with the helmet?I have been flying with the Eurofighter Helmet MountedSymbology System for some 18 months. In my previousexperience as a Test Pilot I have been flying with Helmetmounted displays for about 10 years, which enables me tobe very familiar with all the required elements of thesystem. What is your experience flying the HMSS? I have flown around 30 sorties over a varied length oftime, ranging from a few minutes to several hours. Thenature of these flights have varied between multi-shiptactical air-to-air scenarios to low level display aerobaticssuch as in Farnborough. How does it affect the operational capability of the Eu-rofighter Typhoon? HMSS provides a significant increase in situational aware-ness, which in turn will reduce work load or increase theability of the pilot to accomplish a task. Due to the ability tosee all around you, many combat and peacetime tasks willbe simpler to conduct and will be completed quicker. Does it increase capability for both air-to-air and air-to-ground roles? It definitely improves both and has huge potential in the air-to-ground role - in particular CAS where the situation isfluid. Currently on Typhoon this capability is not yetenabled, but from other platforms this will really provide theedge for the pilot.From a wearability point of view, is the helmet differentto old non-avionic helmets? In general, you will find that walk-out procedures will beinfluenced slightly. So far the production helmet has provedrobust, working very well at Farnborough with only pilotservicing!What aspect of the HMSS do you believe will be mostuseful to the Air Forces? I would say that off-boresight designation is key for the airforces and the helmet certainly offers excellent capabilityin this regard. Also, air-to-surface tasks are greatly facili-tated and there is a general increase in situational aware-ness when operating with this helmet.

Q.

In combination, the Typhoon Helmet andHMSS provide world leading capabilities,giving the pilot, in conjunction with the restof the Typhoon Human Machine Interfaceequipment, unrivalled situational aware-ness whether “head in” or “head out”. TheHMSS is manufactured from carbon fibreand at under 2 kg, its weight is similar toother contemporary non-HMSS helmets.

Its modular design incorporates a pilotpersonal “inner” helmet, which fits into thestandard “outer” avionic HMSS. This design

allows both personal comfort and reducedownership costs through the flexibility of anouter interchangeable HMSS. Ejection safetycharacteristics are built into the design.

As well as providing non-avionic type helmet essential safety characteristics of pi-lot life support and communications func-tions, the HMSS has full integration with all Eurofighter attack and navigation systems.The new helmet can be used throughout thefull aircraft envelope (up to 9g) for both air-to-air and air-to-ground day / night missions.

TECHNOLOGY FOR THE BEST PERFORMANCE AND SKILL FOR COMPLETE SUPPORTFounded in 1908, Avio plays a leading rolein the European aero-engine business andis acknowledged worldwide as systems inte-grator in the most important internationalprogrammes in the aeronautical and spacesectors. Avio is involved in the whole life cycle of products, from the design and de-velopment phase through to production andservices. The company is a global leader inthe design and production of low-pressureturbines, combustors, power transmissions,accessory drive trains, afterburner systemsand auxiliary power units.

In the civil aviation sector, Avio is a part-ner with major worldwide Original Equip-ment Manufacturers (OEMs) such as Rolls-Royce, General Electric, Pratt & Whitney(USA and Canada) and Honeywell.

In the military aviation sector, Avio de-signs and develops engine subsystems fornational and international government pro-grammes and is the national supplier forpropulsion systems to the Italian ArmedForces.

In addition to product development, Avioalso offers maintenance, repair & overhaul(MRO) activities for civil and military aero-engines and gas turbines. These activitiesare concentrated mainly in two certifiedcentres of excellence: Brindisi for militaryengines and Pomigliano d’Arco (Naples) forcivil engines. These two industrial plantsprovide fleet management services of thehighest level to government and nationalcustomers as well as international civil air-line companies. Avio also provides numer-ous engine support lines with logistics andtraining support.

In the space sector, Avio is a key playerin the Ariane 5 programme and is responsi-ble for the entire launcher “Vega”, which isa launch vehicle designed for small-sizesatellites (up to 1,500 kg in low earth orbit).Through the ELV company, Avio and theItalian Space Agency (ASI) are “prime contractor” for the development, qualifica-tion and production of the “Vega” launcherof which, 65 per cent is produced in Italy.

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Throughout the production phase of theEJ200, Avio have continued to develop tech-nologies, which offer life cycle enhance-ments and also allow engine operation at increased levels of performance. Avio is also participating in the development of athrust vectoring nozzle system, which couldbe integrated onto Eurofighter Typhoon.(Re: EF World issue 2/2010 pg. 18)

18

By the end of 2009, Avio achieved asignificant production milestone,which involved the delivery of over

130 engines to the Italian Air Force and theproduction of some 750 engine modules.Achievement of this milestone involvedthree of Avio’s industrial plants: Rivalta diTorino, Pomigliano d’Arco and Acerra(Naples) and Brindisi.

Avio is in the process of establishing amilitary MRO division for technical and lo-gistical customer support. The division, op-erates under “all inclusive” conditions, isbased at the Brindisi industrial plant andinterfaces with NETMA. A strong focus forthis division is on the repairability of com-ponents. A similar team is already in opera-tion in Cameri, Grosseto and Gioia del Colle,Italian Air Force air bases.

Avio is one of four shareholders in the European consortium EUROJET, which was established in 1986to develop and produce the EJ200 engine powering Eurofighter Typhoon. Avio’s workshare within theprogramme is 21 per cent and consists of the accessory drive gearbox, the low-pressure turbine sta-tor and rotor modules, the afterburner and a large portion of the accessories.

AVIO AND THE EJ200 FOR THE EUROFIGHTER TYPHOON

EUROJET PARTNER

EJ200 in an engine test facility

War, the Arctic region has retained itsstrategic significance and the conflict potential has increased.

During a speech made at a meeting inLondon last year, American Admiral JamesStravidis, Supreme Allied NATO Comman-der for Europe, clearly stated: “The FarNorth may become an area of conflict, anarea of probable competition”. Nobody cansay what will happen in the next 10 yearsand in the Arctic, the pre-conditions there-fore exist for force escalation. With no inter-national consensus and no bilateral settle-ment in sight, the nations know that theycan only claim their rights if they are pre-sent in the Arctic with visible and credible

means, and as the Canadians say "Use it or lose it". Russia already made the pointvery clear: The North Pole is Russia!

The melting of the sea ice has openedthe Northeast and Northwest Passages,which economically is of enormous impor-tance: the distance between Rotterdam andYokohama is reduced from 11,200 to 6,500nautical miles. An open Northwest Passagearound Canada will shorten the route be-tween Rotterdam and Seattle to within2,000 nautical miles. These are routes thatconnect the Atlantic with the Pacific, an issue which will also attract the interest ofChina and therefore of South Korea andJapan.

It is highly unlikely that the Western nations will confront each other outside thecourtrooms. But the freeing up of the ice-caps over at least half of Greenland (to-day 80 per cent covered by ice), which ispressuring to become more autonomous,will give Denmark a greater importancewithin the ambit of the European Union,whilst at the same time loading it up withenormous strategic problems in relation tothe management

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Due to the increasingly sparce availability of natural resources, the Arctic has become an importantregion for World Powers due to its abundance of resources which until recently were uneconomical toobtain. If we take water and hydrocarbons as an example which will become a decreasing resource insome areas – and therefore a contentious issue – it is easy to see how problems will arise.

During the Cold War, the Arctic region's importance was dominatedby the strategic military balance

between the Soviet Union and USA/NATO. Nuclear bombers and ballistic missiles wereready to cross the Arctic on their doomsdaymission. Therefore, the USA and Canada es-tablished a common air defence commandto defend the entry to continental NorthAmerica. The system comprised of a chainof long range radars through Canada andGreenland, hundreds of interceptors andmany air bases including the strategicallyimportant Thule Air Base, in Greenland.Equivalent means were deployed on the Soviet side. Despite the demise of the Cold

20

THE ARCTIC FIGHTERUSE IT OR LOSE IT

of the new competencies which flow fromthis situation.

Norway will have a future role in thelight of increased commercial and militaryshipping around its territorial waters andowing to possible disputes in respect of oildeposits around the Svalbard islands. Cana-da is one of the onlookers most affected.The melting of the ice-caps opens up thepossibility of exploiting the bituminoussands of the Far North.

Snow isn’t enough to stop Eurofighter flying Two Luftwaffe jets prepare for training

Typhoon prepares for cold weather flying in Laage Two engines are mandatory for safeoperations in the bitter cold Arcticenvironment

The aircraft provides the ground crew with no problems in the cold weather

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In the medium term it is envisaged thatCanada will purchase 60 aircraft to replaceits Hornets and it appears that this willcome in the form of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lighting II Joint Strike Fighter pro-gramme. But is the F-35 (or the A-35 asmany consider it) the right choice for Cana-da’s changing geo-political priorities?

Would not the vast size of the countryand the challenging future needs discussedearlier require a twin engine, multi-rolefighter with real and credible air defencecapabilities? Without the capabilities to flyfast and high enough (JSF does not have theclimb speed required nor is it able to super-cruise); without a reasonable weapon loadand with its radar low observational capa-bilities almost redundant in the air defencerole, would JSF be a good choice for Canadaor for Norway? In the difficult Canadian environment, the air force has already lost16 F-18’s through accidents, while, to dateNorway has lost quite a large number of itslight, single engine F-16’s. What might happen in the coming years with a singleengine aircraft? Would it be possible to recover a pilot that has ejected, on time, in aharsh Arctic environment? What would be

the attrition rate? These are questionswhich many in Canada, Denmark and Norway are starting to ask.

But the most important question is whythese three nations should have an attackaircraft that will not be able to defend thecountry’s strategic assets in the future - theJSF has been designed for ground attack as its main mission.

Today, a fighter aircraft is one of themost flexible and powerful means to showpresence and deterrence. Their sensorsmake them ideally suited to detect, trackand monitor penetrators over vast distancesand, in most cases, their presence alonewould force the penetrators – airborne aswell as seaborne – to leave. The fighter is also the quickest power projection meansavailable. But the ideal "Arctic Fighter" re-quires more than the right sensors, naviga-tion and weapon systems.

The best answer to these questions isthe Eurofighter. Tested in Northern Swedenunder actual Arctic conditions at tempera-

With over 400 suppliers involved in the Eurofighter Typhoon supply chain, Europe’slargest collaborative programme, rangingfrom large international companies to small,independent local companies, the pro-gramme is comprised of a strong, diverseand highly skilled work force.

The Eurofighter programme, being a keydriver for spin off technology in Europeanbusiness, uses suppliers from across the fourpartner nations of Germany, Italy, Spain andthe UK and serves to maintain an indepen-dent and competitive European aerospace industry.

Eurofighter World spoke to five suppliersfrom across the partner nations and wasgranted a little insight into what working onthe Typhoon means for them and how theprogramme works from their perspective.

Each company we spoke to is a valuedsupplier for Eurofighter and have all beenwith the programme since its creation in theearly 1990’s. The suppliers we spoke to man-ufacture a wide range of products and arerecognised for their professionalism in man-ufacturing and delivery.

The Italian company Secondo Mona is aleading business in the design and manufac-ture of aerospace equipment. This supplierprovides Eurofighter with fuselage tanks, for-ward wing transfer pumps, a variety of tankpressure regulating valves and much more.Secondo Mona does not only supply for theTyphoon programme, but is also an impor-tant supplier for the EJ200 engine, manufac-turing after burner fuel control units, shut-off and distribution valves and fuel coiled oilcoolers. Sergio Bogni, Secondo Mona’s Managing Director said “Being a supplier tothe Typhoon programme has made us veryattentive to delivery schedules and the quality of the product delivered. According to

the British Aerospace monthly metrics, Secondo Mona has constantly delivered 100per cent on time and of 99 per cent quality.”

Mr. Bogni explained that being one of Eurofighters’ key suppliers meant the creation of a mutually satisfactory relation-ship between both parties. As did EduardoChamorro, Technical and Commercial Direc-tor of CESA, a Spanish avionic company andanother supplier to the Typhoon programme.Mr. Chamorro said that the relationship between both consortiums is professionaland rewarding.

CESA produces landing gear door actua-tors as well as essential APU and oxygen systems. Although most contracts are man-aged through the partner companies and notthe Eurofighter consortium itself, CESA areproud to be one of the suppliers for the Eurofighter Typhoon programme.

MEGGIT – Aircraft Breaking Systems(MABS), is an English supplier for the Integrated Landing Gear Control System ofthe aircraft, which includes componentssuch as the landing computer, the brake assembly and wheel speed transducers.Their sister company MEGGIT-Avionics alsomanufactures the air data transducer for theTyphoon.

It is not only Eurofighter that benefitsfrom the solid relationship with the suppli-ers; the Typhoon programme is just as im-portant and beneficial to the suppliers. Eurofighter has had an incredible impact on the European aeronautic industry, giving different sectors in Europe a technologicaladvantage.

Mark Torres, Head of Programmes forCoventry and Programme Manager for Eurofighter Typhoon in MEGGIT, stated thatworking for Eurofighter opened up opportu-nities for his company. He said, ‘Eurofighter

SUPPLY CHAIN FOCUStures below –30° Celsius, including fulldemonstration of its autonomous opera-tional capability and low logistical footprint,the Eurofighter is ready to cope with the severe weather of the Arctic. The fighter isequipped with an Auto-Approach modewhich allows the autopilot to fly an ILS approach in all conditions, and it has beentested to operate in the most extremeweather including flight in icing conditions.

The Eurofighter's advanced aerodynam-ics, flight control system and powerfulEJ200 engines make short take-offs possiblein all configurations. The Eurofighter has anadvanced anti-skid braking system and abrake chute to allow short landings on slippery runways. In the most extreme caseeven landing on icy runways would be pos-sible using its arrestor hook. Both the Nor-wegian and the Canadians have operational-ly used mobile arrestor cable systems ontheir tundra airfields. The nose wheel posi-tion behind the inlet, significantly reducesthe FOD-hazard to the engines while the Eurofighter operates on the Arctic airfields.

The retractable in-flight refuelling probemakes possible refuelling from a largerange of in-flight refuelling tankersequipped with the drogue basket system.

But the most obvious Eurofighter advan-tage is its two engines providing a signifi-cant flight safety bonus. In case of an en-gine failure – which statistically will hap-pen – the Eurofighter will not crash, butsafely recover to a base with the damagedengine. No pilot wants to eject into the Arctic environment, knowing it is potential-ly lethal due to the extreme weather, thewild life and the isolation. Being out ofreach of helicopters and ships, it will takedays to be evacuated.

So in summary, the Eurofighter is notonly affordable, combat ready and alreadysuperior in performance and fire power, but has the additional features that make itthe perfect fighter in the unforgiving Arcticenvironment.

L.J. & M.M.

Typhoon is one of the leading global militaryprogrammes in production, and our presencein this programme has enabled MABS togrow our market share within the militarysegment.” Approximately 5 to 10 per cent oftheir annual sales turnover is made up byEurofighter work.

Eurofighter has made a similar impact onannual turnover sales for OMA (OfficineMeccaniche Aeronautiche), another Italiansupplier for the programme. General Manag-er Vincenzo Rossi explained, “The Eurofight-er programme made about 11 per cent of ourannual sale revenues in 2009”. He also ex-plained that thanks to the Typhoon pro-gramme OMA was able to consolidate itselfin a high level multinational industrial envi-ronment.

“The Typhoon is one of the few pro-grammes that is long term, requiring suffi-ciently stable planning, with guaranteedquantities over the coming years and verydemanding logistic support requirements.All have contributed to sustaining and grow-ing the OMA business.” Mr. Rossi concluded.OMA supports the Eurofighter programmeby supplying parts such as in-flight refu-elling probes and door actuators, arrestorhook shock absorbers and others.

Some companies make nearly half of theannual sale revenues from working with theEurofighter programme. For instance, theturnover figures of Secondo Mona and CESAare around 35 per cent of business sales,however this is not always the case with allsuppliers, as some companies work along-side the consortium for mutual development.

Some companies are dependent on the relationship and long-term contracts that the programme brings. Whatever the case,what is apparent is that it is the suppliers asmuch as the partner companies that play avital role in making the Typhoon the world’sbest combat aircraft.

A.H.-C.

Following cold weather trials in Sweden in 2003. The Typhoonoperates regulary across Europe in freezing temps. THE BACKBONE OF THE EUROFIGHTER PROGRAMME

Arare opportunity gives us access to anewly invented special system thatcan shrink us at will and accelerate

us to any speed. We seize the moment to goinside a flying machine – the Eurofighter –from a unique and privileged point of view.

The atmosphere is surreal, as we come togrips with a maze of wires of different sizesand materials, extending for over 50 kilome-tres. We jump into a bundle of fibre optics.This cable uses light to carry signals – infact, about a million a second. We follow oneof these signals and we suddenly have theimpression that something is aware of ourpresence. A red warning signal flashes threetimes above our head;“Protocol Error, Retryon Alternate Lane”. The message is followed

by quick flashes on a fibre optic to the leftand disappears. “Someone” has sensed thatour presence might involuntarily contami-nate the data and therefore decided toreroute it to a secondary path.

We continue exploring until we reach theend of the fibre where we arrive on top of anelectronic card, surrounded by many othersin every shape and size. We have entered theprocessor, one of the main electronic compo-nents. The processor is black, broad, longand with golden roots well planted into thecards. We can see now that the thick maze ofcables leads us to hundreds of other proces-sors that surround us. We visit and count theprocessing centres, discovering a total of 114that hold no less than five million lines of code.

We continue our tour along the cablesuntil we reach another group of compo-nents, all identical to one another, calledthe memories, which hold the local instruc-tions for the processor we have just seen.This is the intelligence of a brain that plans,decides and coordinates continuously thou-sands of functions and inputs from sensorsand dedicated systems while feeding andexchanging data through copper and fibreoptic cables protected by robust communi-cations protocols.

We are swimming in an increasinglygrowing and evolving integrated system,which over the next four years will almostdouble its “intelligence” to reach eight mil-lion lines of code. We are inside the brain of the Eurofighter.

F. Danubio

INSIDE A EUROFIGHTER AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT

www.eurofighter.com n o t h i n g c o m e s c l o s e

Leader of ForcesTyphoon: Operational with six air forces, the aircraft offers total multi role dominance. Eurofighter Typhoon delivers unparalleled fleet

effectiveness. Designed with an established technology insertion programme - from AESA radar and innovative latest generation helmet

mounted symbology system to advanced air-to-air and air-to-ground weapon systems - the Typhoon is able to counter effectively all

current and evolving threats and will continue at the forefront of combat aircraft for future decades.

PROGRAMME NEWS & FEATURES 3/2010

AESA RADARLAUNCHED

NEW HELMETIN SERVICE

TYPHOON:THE ARCTIC FIGHTER

TOTAL FORCE !EUROFIGHTER REACHES THE REALMS OF F-22