Eurofighter / Typhoon

Two of the air force chiefs from the launch [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] nations have underlined their services' continued commitment to the programme, and say they want to field new capabilities with the aircraft.

Speaking at the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] on 18 July, Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy, the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] outgoing chief of the air staff, singled out the introduction of an active electronically-scanned array radar and extended-range capability as key requirements for future Typhoon orders. "E-scan is being developed, and we would like to add conformal fuel tanks," he says.
Torpy says the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] has received 56 Eurofighters to date, including seven Tranche 2 production examples. "In terms of performance we are absolutely delighted with them," he says, but confirms that over the long term "we will probably consolidate around the Tranche 2 and Tranche 3 fleets".

The UK is close to signing a Tranche 3A contract for the Eurofighter, along with partners Germany, Italy and Spain. The nations' combined requirement covers 112 new aircraft.

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] chief of staff Lt Gen Klaus-Peter Stieglitz says his service is also interested in fielding multirole Eurofighters equipped with AESA sensors. "The Luftwaffe is looking for the E-Scan radar in the future," he confirms, adding: "We will further evolve and develop the Eurofighter."

Stieglitz says Berlin is still "looking for around 180 Eurofighters", its stated launch commitment to the programme, with this to include 31 Tranche 1 aircraft. "It is not our intention to take these to Tranche 2/3 standard," he says. "There is no immediate need or pressure to convert them."

Seventy German pilots have now converted to the Eurofighter, including 20 instructors, and the type has amassed more than 11,000 flight hours in Luftwaffe service without an accident.

Germany will for the first time send Eurofighters to Lithuania in September-October this year to provide air policing cover for the Baltic states. "This indicates that I trust the system," says Stieglitz. "We meet and beat NATO standards by far in availability, maintainability and reaction time."

Torpy says the RAF "will take stock in around 2012" on whether to deploy the Typhoon to relieve its [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] GR4 force, which was recently committed to support NATO-led operations in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, the Typhoon programme's launch export customer has completed its first 1,000 flight hours with the type. Twelve interceptors have been delivered to the Austrian air force's Zeltweg air base, with its remaining three to be handed over "during the coming months", the Eurofighter consortium says.

LE CASTELLET, Var, 24 juillet (Reuters) - Les nations impliquées dans le programme Eurofighter semblent sur le point de signer un contrat ouvrant la voie à la production d'une nouvelle génération d'avions de combat.
"Vous devriez voir quelque chose de ce genre la semaine prochaine", a déclaré vendredi Quentin Davies, secrétaire d'Etat britannique à la Défense.
Lancé il y a 25 ans, le programme Eurofighter réunit l'Allemagne, l'Espagne, l'Italie et la Grande-Bretagne.
Le consortium regroupe BAE , Finmeccanica et EADS.

Jeannot a écrit:Un contrat pour lancer le successeur de l'Eurofighter pourrait être conclu la semaine prochaine.

LE CASTELLET, Var, 24 juillet (Reuters) - Les nations impliquées dans le programme Eurofighter semblent sur le point de signer un contrat ouvrant la voie à la production d'une nouvelle génération d'avions de combat.
"Vous devriez voir quelque chose de ce genre la semaine prochaine", a déclaré vendredi Quentin Davies, secrétaire d'Etat britannique à la Défense.
Lancé il y a 25 ans, le programme Eurofighter réunit l'Allemagne, l'Espagne, l'Italie et la Grande-Bretagne.
Le consortium regroupe BAE , Finmeccanica et EADS.

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]

CASTELLET, France, July 24 (Reuters) - Nations involved in the Eurofighter Typhoon consortium appear set to sign a contract confirming the next wave of combat jet production next week.

"You should see something on that next week. That is next week's subject," British Defence Procurement Minister Quentin Davies told Reuters, asked about the contract's signing.
...Eurofighter was conceived 25 years ago and involves Germany, Spain, Italy and Britain building more than 600 high-peformance fighter jets.
Britain recommitted itself to the defence contract in May after a row over the cost of the multi-billion dollar programme.
To ease budget worries, buyer nations agreed to split the third and final tranche of orders into two parts.But a final signature that will keep open production lines has been held up by talks with the manufacturing consortium over savings in long-term "life-cycle" costs sought by governments.

Jeannot a écrit:J'avais vu une première fois le communiqué en français et il m'avait étonné car on avait pas eu de rumeurs dans ce sens.
Je l'ai retrouvé à 2 ou 3 endroits différents alors je me suis décidé à le publier.

Sorry about this.

Cette anecdote montre deux choses :

. que certains journalistes ne font pas toujours attention quand il traduisent

. que la fausse information peut rapidement se répandre (avantages et inconvénients d'internet)

Le consortium Eurofighter a annoncé mercredi que ses pays membres signeraient un accord définissant les contours de la production de la prochaine tranche du programme vendredi.
La signature de cette "tranche 3A" constitue une étape clé dans la production de l'avion de combat et ouvre la voie au règlement des entreprises impliquées dans le projet: l'européenne EADS, l'italienne Finmeccanica et la britannique BAE Systems. Elle doit également permettre de pérenniser quelque 10.000 emplois en Europe.
Constitué dans les années 1980, le consortium Eurofighter rassemble l'Allemagne, le Royaume-Uni, l'Espagne et l'Italie et prévoit l'assemblage et la livraison aux forces armées de 620 avions de combat.
En vue d'alléger les budgets militaires des pays concernés, la troisième et dernière tranche a été divisée en deux (3A et 3B). La tranche 3 prévoit la livraison de 236 appareils au total.
La signature a été retardée pour des motifs budgétaires.

Partner nations Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK have signed a €9 billion ($12.7 billion) contract for their first Tranche 3 [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] combat aircraft, ending months of uncertainty over the programme's future prospects.

Conducted in Manching near Munich, Germany, the signing event covered the so-called Tranche 3A production of a combined 112 aircraft for the partner nations. The order split is 40 aircraft for the UK, 31 for Germany, 21 for Italy and 20 for Spain, with the deal also including the delivery of 241 Eurojet EJ200 turbofan engines.
Today's signature clears the way for the four partner nations to negotiate the configuration of their new aircraft with the Eurofighter industrial consortium via the NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency.

The UK Ministry of Defence says its new commitment is worth around £3 billion ($4.97 billion), making each of its aircraft's unit cost about £75 million. Deliveries to the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] will start in 2013, with the aircraft expected to feature "new radar and new weapons". They are likely to "accommodate future installation of additional fuel tanks mounted on the fuselage to greatly increase range and endurance".

BAE Systems says the new aircraft "will be of Tranche 2 standard provisioned with additional capability to deal with projected high-technology future capability enhancements.

The air force chiefs of Germany and the UK earlier this month confirmed their shared interest in equipping Tranche 3 aircraft with an active electronically scanned array radar.
With the Eurofighter nations' first two production contracts having totalled 384 aircraft, the Tranche 3A deal should move them to within 124 of honouring their shared commitment to purchase a combined 620 over the programme's life.

A total of 178 Eurofighters had been delivered by 30 June, including 24 Tranche 2 examples.
BAE says its stake in the Tranche 3A deal will be valued at around £2 billion, with Italy's Finmeccanica expecting to receive business worth over €2.8 billion. [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] has yet to disclose the expected volume of its involvement.

Rolls-Royce, which holds a 37% stake in the Eurojet consortium, says its Tranche 3A production activities will be worth over £300 million.

Europe's four [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] partner nations have until the end of the year to agree the production configuration for their 112 Tranche 3A aircraft, being acquired under a €9 billion ($12.9 billion) contract signed on 31 July. The award also covers the supply of 241 [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] turbofan engines.
Enzo Casolini, chief executive of the Eurofighter industry consortium, says discussions with Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK will focus on the possible introduction of an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, and weapons including MBDA's Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile.
"By the end of the year we will have a better estimate for the cost of integration" for such equipment, Casolini says. He reveals that three of the nations have approved a study into one AESA radar enhancement, while the UK is staging a separate investigation.

The results of both processes will be assessed late this year.
"The technology is mature - it's just a question of making a credible programme," says Casolini, who adds that an active array radar would support possible future export sales of the Typhoon. "Not all of the nations are in the same sort of situation," he says, while calling for "strong, co-ordinated government support".

A decision is needed soon, says Casolini, or else "it will be difficult to do by 2013", when Tranche 3A deliveries will begin. The production phase will deliver 40 aircraft to the UK, 31 to Germany, 21 to Italy and 20 to Spain by 2016.

Casolini says his customers should make a commitment to Tranche 3B production of the Eurofighter during 2011, but notes that "if there is strong support for exports then we could take that into consideration." The UK has already agreed with its partners a reduction of 24 aircraft from its originally 232-strong commitment, in return for brokering the sale of 72 Typhoons to Saudi Arabia. London has now ordered 160 of the aircraft.

In-service and logistics support arrangements for the Tranche 3A aircraft should also be ready for discussion from early 2010, according to Casolini, along with proposals for the standard's wider armaments fit, including the Meteor. "In the last couple of months I have seen more determination to go forward with the programme," he adds. "I believe that this aircraft has to have a weapon system like Meteor."

Other future weapons include MBDA's Brimstone air-to-surface missile, Raytheon Systems' proposed supersonic Paveway IV precision-guided bomb, the MBDA Storm Shadow and Taurus Systems KEPD 350 Taurus cruise missiles, and the US-made Small Diameter Bomb.
Partner companies Alenia Aeronautica, BAE Systems and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] have delivered 181 Tranche 1 and 2 Eurofighters, with the type having amassed over 62,000 flight hours in air force use.

The UK has begun investigating the feasibility of extending the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]'s fatigue life beyond its nominal 6,000 flying hour limit. The move would prolong the availability of the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]'s early-build aircraft and extend the type's designated out-of-service date beyond 2030.
"We expect it almost certainly to go beyond 2030," says [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Gp Capt Tony Innes, deputy head theatre airspace capability - air defence. The fatigue life of the RAF's upgraded [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]s is 33% higher, at 8,000 flying hours.

The UK Ministry of Defence's Typhoon integrated project team leader, Air Cdre Chris Bushell, says: "We're pushing [the Typhoon's] fatigue life out, and there's a process back to the fatigue test specimen, which we have in the UK.
"It depends where we go on future fast jet numbers, and how we use the aircraft operationally," he adds. "It's something we're constantly reviewing. It's quite complex because we've got a number of different aircraft here at different stages of capability growth and what we're trying to do is eke out all that fatigue life."

The RAF currently has 49 Tranche 1 Typhoons

The UK has accumulated by far the highest number of flying hours with the Eurofighter, compared with partner nations Germany, Italy and Spain. Although the RAF has the largest fleet, it is also achieving a utilisation rate around double that of the other air forces.

"We are looking at about 30h per month on average for each of our airframes at the frontline, whereas the other nations fly at a maximum of about 15h per month per aircraft," says Bushell. He adds that despite this, "the UK has ordered the least amount of spares".

According to MoD figures, the RAF had reached nearly 25,000 flying hours by the end of 2008, compared with 10,000 or fewer for each of the other three nations. The UK had ordered fewer than 35,000 lines of spares as of February 2009, against just over 50,000 for Germany, almost 45,000 for Italy and around 37,000 for Spain.
The RAF has two operational Typhoon squadrons, plus two training and operational evaluation units based at RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire. These are equipped with a combined 49 Tranche 1 and seven Tranche 2 Eurofighters. A further three squadrons will be based at RAF Leuchars in Scotland, with these to stand up between October 2010 and October 2012. RAF Typhoons will make their deployed operational debut later this year, when the type will replace the Tornado F3 in providing air defence services for the Falkland Islands.

Think about thrust vectoring and the image that probably springs to mind is that of an experimental fighter wowing the crowds at an air show, as the pilot pulls off seemingly impossible post-stall manoeuvres in an imaginary dogfight.

This is a pre-conception that [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] engine supplier Eurojet is attempting to dispel as it prepares to begin briefing the aircraft's current and prospective customer nations on the real-world benefits it envisages the technology could deliver to their air forces. The message is that thrust vectoring is about more than just agility.

Having demonstrated the mechanics of the concept in extensive benchtests, the engine consortium is trying to secure funds to fly its thrust vectoring nozzle (TVN) on a flight demonstrator. This, it believes, would provide data to back up its claims that TVN could reduce fuel burn on a typical Typhoon mission by up to 5%, as well as increase available thrust in supercruise by up to 7% and take-off thrust by 2%.

"Previously thrust vectoring has always been about things that will make the pilot smile," says Eurojet technical director Matt Price. "That's fantastic, but certainly in this application it's a pretty agile aircraft to begin with. While thrust vectoring still offers operational advantages, we have to look at lifecycle costs as well. The business that we're in is that we have to hit both those things together."

INTEGRATION

The proposal is to integrate a thrust vectoring capability with the twin-engined Typhoon's digital flight-control system so that it effectively functions as an additional control surface.

Eurojet partner ITP of Spain is responsible for the design of the EJ200's TVN, and has attempted to optimise the device for simplicity of operation while adding as little weight as possible (about 40kg/88lb per engine). The TVN is capable of varying the throat and exit areas independently and has a "fail-safe" mode, meaning that in the event of a loss of hydraulic pressure the nozzle closes to a position that enables the engine to deliver full dry thrust if required.
"Recognising that the convergent-divergent nozzle was one of the key competencies ITP started with, it was a very natural thing for them to look into how they could advance - from a technology point of view - their main part of the EJ200," says Price.

"Actually, relative to the existing actuation system, the design in today's nozzle lends itself quite well to not really needing huge changes to get to a thrust vectoring nozzle," he adds. "ITP I think came up with a very good solution on today's engine which means, for example, we don't need to add any more actuators to go into a thrust vectoring nozzle."

Salvador Costa Krämer, Eurofighter product manager for Tranche 3 production, Meteor integration and new business, says thrust vectoring would bring improvements to the capabilities of the Typhoon as an air-to-surface weapons delivery platform.

"There was a very clear [supersonic interceptor] mission for which the aircraft was designed, and these capabilities are already delivered to the customer," he says. "Now we are facing a different ball game, which is to adapt this weapon system platform to a number of new, different roles."

HIGH SPEED

Costa Krämer says that in terms of thrust vectoring, "most operationally significant is the speed that it gives you in supercruise, because obviously the pilots are very keen on low observability at high speed. This is really an immediate operational advantage. This number - 7% more thrust in supercruise - is quite a remarkable achievement."

The Typhoon is designed to provide the pilot with "care free" engine handling to reduce workload, and this would not change with the introduction of thrust vectoring, says Eurojet engineering director Wolfgang Sterr. The TVN has several degrees of freedom, enabling it to deliver control forces in pitch and yaw, while optimising the throat ("A8") and exit ("A9") areas to suit flight conditions, for example in supersonic cruise where a divergent configuration is required to accelerate the gas flow for increased thrust.

"It is not possible [to do this] for the existing nozzle, which has a fixed schedule between A8 and A9, optimised for certain conditions only," says Sterr. "With the TVN you can reduce the fuel burn and life cycle costs as well, in certain parts of the envelope," he adds.

In the standard EJ200 a cam controls how the throat and exit areas are adjusted relative to each other, but in the TVN the exit can be ovalised and therefore varied independently from the throat, using the same actuators that are required to redirect the thrust. "You get this flexibility almost for free," says Sterr.

The result is better propulsive efficiency, which in turn could reduce fuel burn on a typical mission by "round about 3-5%".

Price adds: "At a given thrust, the engine ends up working less hard, the temperatures go down, and life goes up. That's a really strong life-cycle cost driver. We're very focused on lifecycle cost advantages and aerobatic/aerodynamic effects too. Both are attractive for future customers.

"The neat thing from a gas turbine point of view is that the rest of the engine doesn't see [the thrust vectoring] - you get it for free. It's just the nozzle. The rest of the engine isn't working any harder."
The "balanced beam" design of the TVN enables weight to be minimised as there are "forces working against each other so the actuator forces are quite low", says Sterr.

Benchtesting of the TVN began in the late-1990s and was used to demonstrate more extreme degrees of vectoring than are envisaged for the Typhoon.

"This gives us a lot of confidence that the production variant that we might consider is low-risk," says Price.
Changes to the EJ200 required for thrust vectoring are limited to the introduction of additional software into the digital engine control and monitoring unit (DECMU) and a high-power hydraulic pump for the actuation system.

"Actuator demand is coming from the aircraft flight-control system, and the actuator control is within the DECMU, so obviously there must be an interface," says Robert Osterhuber, [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Military Air Systems head of flight control and the Eurofighter partner company's project leader for Typhoon thrust vectoring. "This interface is already there, but it needs to be extended," he says.

REDUNDANCY

Osterhuber points out that an extra control surface means additional redundancy in the event of the aircraft sustaining damage during combat. For example, the Typhoon has two pitch effectors (its canards and the wing trailing edge), but the TVNs provide a third.

"If you lose one [pitch effector], you have two surfaces left to take over the required moment," he says. This function would be integrated with the flight-control system and therefore fully automated.
A further safety boost would be increased controllability at low speeds such as during the landing approach, particularly during gust conditions. This improved handling would also enhance the ability of the Typhoon to "bring back" asymmetric weapons loads, or even take-off with a single stand-off weapon such as the MBDA Storm Shadow.

Thrust vectoring could in addition be used to reduce approach speed, opening the door to a potential naval version of the Typhoon, which has attracted the attention of at least one potential export customer, according to Costa Krämer.
A spin-off of using the TVN as a control surface is that thrust vectoring can be used to trim the aircraft and "unload" the flight- control surfaces, thereby reducing drag and/or increasing lift. The conventional control surfaces are meanwhile "liberated" from their role as trim devices and can be used to enhance manoeuvrability.

In supersonic flight, even small flap deflections can cause large amounts of drag.

"If you have thrust vectoring, you can put your aerodynamic surfaces in the best position to give optimum lift and drag, because you do not need to trim the aircraft with aerodynamic surfaces," says Osterhuber.

TRIM-DRAG REDUCTION

The TVN's ability to enable the engine to produce thrust more efficiently, coupled with the trim-drag reduction, results in a "double win", says Eurojet's Price.

He says the software control laws for the TVN are "relatively simple on our side, and we've worked with Robert and his team at EADS to understand how they would work together from a control logic point of view".
EADS has system design responsibility for the Typhoon's flight-control system, while Alenia is responsible for engine integration.

The capability of the TVN would be constrained to avoid the need for structural changes to the airframe or engine, allowing it to be retrofitted to current-standard EJ200s in a "theoretically simple" way, says Price. The engines fitted to Tranche 1 Typhoons would however require a new DECMU.

Thrust vectoring could bring a range of additional benefits to the Typhoon depending on the flight regime. Below around 300kt (555km/h), where the aircraft's flight-control surfaces have limited effect due to low aerodynamic pressure, it can provide enhanced manoeuvrability. At higher speeds, the ability to modify the size and shape of the engine nozzles brings an increase in net thrust.

"There are benefits all over the place," says Eurojet's Sterr. "You can reduce your take-off distances considerably because you are able to rotate the aircraft much earlier with thrust vectoring to generate the lift. You can't generate a moment without thrust vectoring to rotate earlier."
With theoretical studies and benchtests of the TVN completed, Eurojet hopes to get a two-phase flight-test programme under way. Ideally, phase one would involve equipping a twin-engined fighter such as the Typhoon with a single TVN - not integrated with the flight-control system - to validate Eurojet's computer models. The second phase would involve both engines being equipped with TVNs, and full integration with the flight-control system.

Meanwhile, EADS has equipped its Typhoon flight simulator at Manching to mimic the effects of thrust vectoring so that pilots can evaluate the potential benefits.

"We have developed flight-control laws and we have got a modified engine model," says Osterhuber. "We put these together, and we can evaluate now if pilots like it in combat scenarios."

In addition to providing "something tangible for the customer", Price says there are two elements to the simulator project. "First of all it's validating that everything works as expected in terms of the total flight-control system. We can fly missions and see what it does in terms of fuel burn, simulate what the engine is doing and validate the numbers in terms of life-cycle cost saving."

ASTONISHED PILOTS

But, he adds, "the pilot also sees how the aircraft flies with the thrust vectoring system. Some of the pilots have been quite astonished at what the aircraft can do."

Osterhuber says that some pilots have described their experiences in the simulator as "eye watering", adding: "We are nearly at the end of a feasibility study. We are now ready to take our concepts and show potential performance improvements."

Eurojet is putting together financial data with the aim of demonstrating that adoption of thrust vectoring by Eurofighter customer nations would quickly pay for itself.

"We know the benefit is there," says Price. "In terms of route to market we need to be able to quantify that and present it in the right way to the customer.

"The benefits should be able to stand on their own, even if it's a retrofit programme."
Funding to support a flight-test effort would need to come from one or more of the core nations or export customers, and/or industry.

If thrust vectoring is introduced on the Typhoon, it is likely to be part of a wider package of improvements, such as the integration of stand-off weapons or potentially the heavier "E-Scan" active electronically scanned array radar.
"There is a very obvious synergy [with the E-Scan radar] in introducing this little extra weight [for the TVN] in the rear, as then you don't need to redesign your control laws for a new centre of gravity," says Costa Krämer.

It is clear that customers will not pay for thrust-vectoring simply to enable their Typhoons to pull post-stall air show stunts, but with so many other potential benefits available, Eurojet wants to deliver the message to the customer nations in the right way.

"There's a prejudice that we have to break, and we have to make sure we do that in a robust way, and time it both in terms of the market that's out there, and in terms of the information that we can bring," says Price.

Eurofighter Typhoon, the world's most advanced multi-role combat aircraft,.....

Note:Eurofighter Typhoon is the world's most advanced new generation real multi-role/swing-role combat aircraft available on the market and has been ordered by six nations (Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, Austria and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia). With 707 aircraft under contract, it is Europe's largest military collaborative programme and delivers leading-edge technology, strengthening Europe's aerospace industry in the global competition. More than 100,000 jobs in 400 companies are secured by the programme.

Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH manages the programme on behalf of the Eurofighter Partner Companies: Alenia Aeronautica/ Finmeccanica, BAE Systems, EADS CASA and EADS Deutschland, Europe's foremost aerospace companies with a total turnover of approx. EUR 88bn (2008).

It has been a long time since we have heard the "yesterday's aircraft at tomorrow's prices" jibe thrown at Eurofighter, but those who still insist that the air superiority fighter is a "Cold War relic" may be missing something critical: the Cold War itself has not entirely gone away.

Proof came on 15 September, when two German air force Eurofighters had to make an "alpha scramble" from their temporary base at Siauliai, Lithuania, while providing Baltic sector quick reaction alert/air policing duties for NATO.
The aircraft they met turned out to be a Russian air force Antonov A-50 airborne early warning and control platform, which the German pilots photographed and escorted further back into international airspace before returning to Siauliai.
This incident, which came just two weeks into Fighter Wing 74's two-month stint at Siauliai, was certainly the most exciting moment of the deployment, and its timing was probably significant. While the Baltic QRA sector has been patrolled by NATO air forces from Siauliai since Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania joined the alliance in 2004, FW74's deployment was the first time that Eurofighters had been on duty there.

It must be assumed that the crew of the A-50 were expecting company, and had their own cameras and radar gear primed and ready for their first-ever contact with a Eurofighter. Meanwhile, approaching the German air force aircraft from behind was a pair of Russian Sukhoi Su-27 fighters, which were duly intercepted by Finnish air force fighters on QRA duty in their sector.

Such a day would have been one of high tension in 1989, but 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall there clearly remains no small measure of prickliness in East-West relations.

For the rest of the two-month deployment, flying involved about five training - or "tango" - scrambles a week, often involving a mock intercept of a Lithuanian air force Aero Vodochody L-39 trainer or Mil Mi-8 transport helicopter.
But FW74's time at Siauliai was anything but routine. Lt Col Jon Gloystein, speaking in the easy American accent typical of US-trained German air force fighter pilots, says the deployment was an important exercise in bare-base operations with the Eurofighter.

Siauliai was the biggest Soviet air base outside Russia, but when the Baltic states gained independence, the Russians literally packed up and went home. What they left behind amounted to what could not be moved: a 3,500m (11,400ft)-long runway and a scattering of hardened aircraft shelters built for Mikoyan MiG-21s.
There is a little more infrastructure than that today, but the NATO QRA headquarters is little more than a portacabin, and the four deployed Eurofighters were kept in canvas hangars.

Gloystein says the experience of operating Eurofighters far from home is invaluable when it comes to managing logistics to maximise aircraft availability, particularly requests for and delivery of spare parts.
Some spares, he notes, can only be transported by military airlift, but that is only available in Siauliai once a week. Others are rarely needed and so, in a pinch, only available by cannibalising another aircraft.
In Siauliai, FW74 had 110 personnel, with many being rotated back to the squadron's home base at Neuberg-Donau to give as many as possible of the wing's 1,100 people experience of the mission. Pilots were on a three-week rotation.

According to Gloystein, it would have been possible to run the QRA mission with just 90 people, but the deployment was also a training opportunity. In a combat situation, he says, four Eurofighters could be supported by just 60 soldiers.

All of that is a far cry from his Bavarian home base, where FW74 also carries out domestic QRA duties. With just 10 Eurofighters, the squadron was stretched very thin to meet its obligations, both of which demand at least four aircraft - two at 15min readiness and two more in reserve. Just two were left as spares.
Running lean has consequences. With only four Eurofighters in Siauliai, it was not possible to fly enough hours to keep all FW74's pilots' licences current. As a result, Germany had to split its four-month Baltic deployment into a pair of two-month sections, with the November-December period picked up by the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantoms of the Wittmund-based and gloriously-named FW71 "Richthofen".

The German air force generally is having to make do with fewer aircraft than expected, because some of its Tranche 1 aircraft were diverted for delivery to launch export customer the Austrian air force. Gloystein says operating with too-few aircraft hurts when others "are taken from your own flesh".

Being short of aircraft even means pilots have to fill some time with non-flying duties, which can include periods in Afghanistan. Gloystein admits this situation poses a challenge to morale, but stresses that "above all they are officers and soldiers".
Despite winter conditions at Siauliai, FW74 managed 100% Eurofighter readiness over several weeks - a performance "unmatched so far", according to German air force public affairs officer Maj Alexander Feja, who sums up the deployment as "mission accomplished".

Further ahead, Gloystein is looking forward to having German Eurofighter pilots being equipped, beginning next year, with a new digital helmet that includes voice-activated targeting. And, with any luck, they will take part in Allied flag exercises, possibly including a visit by six to eight aircraft to the US Air Force's Mountain Home AFB in Idaho.

Capturing new Typhoon fighter jet business in the Middle East is foremost on Eurofighter's agenda this week as it makes its first showing at the Dubai air show.
The Middle Eastern push comes as Eurofighter finds itself at a "watershed" moment in terms of military aircraft deliveries and capabilities, says Craig Penrice, a former UK Royal Air Force test pilot who now works as Typhoon marketing aircrew adviser for BAE Systems Military Air Solutions. He notes that the Typhoon programme has captured orders for a total of 707 jets.
Among them is a 72-strong order from Saudi Arabia, which is replacing the Panavia Tornado, the backbone of its air force, and some Northrop F-5s.

In June Saudi Arabia took delivery of the first two of 24 Typhoons originally scheduled for delivery to the RAF under London's Tranche 2 Eurofighter production order, but sold to Riyadh under a government-to-government deal dubbed Project Salam.
A further four have since been delivered to Saudi Arabia with two more scheduled to be delivered by year-end, says Penrice.

In the 18-month period that the balance of UK-built Typhoons are delivered to Saudi Arabia, a new, purpose-built facility in the kingdom will be stood up in expectation that its remaining 48 Typhoons will be assembled locally.
Specific details, such as production rates at the Saudi Arabian facility, are still being thrashed out by the partners, says Penrice.

Eurofighter, meanwhile, is talking to "a lot of potential customers" in the Middle East and around the world, he says. "The message we put across is 'we have this balanced design. We're not relying on one feature to give us survivability or lethality'."

He says Eurofighter is "more than willing to discuss partnerships in terms of how we advance this aircraft" and how it "evolves".

"We realise there is a great interest across the world from the Japanese in the east to the Canadians in the west. Nobody wants to buy aircraft at full cost. They want to have technology transfer and want to be part of the team."

The [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] partner nations are moving towards an agreement to integrate an active electronically scanned array radar with the type, as discussions over Tranche 3A production near a conclusion.
"We are talking at great length, and there is a gradual coming together," says Bob Mason, vice-president marketing and sales for [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], prime contractor and design authority for the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]'s current mechanically scanned Captor radar. "A lot of things are pulling E-scan to the fore, and we expect some sort of agreement within two to three months."

Selex, which produces over 50% of the Captor system at its facilities in Edinburgh, Scotland and Milan, Italy, believes the addition of an AESA array will be a vital step towards the Typhoon securing additional sales with nations such as India and Japan.

"The Typhoon needs an E-scan radar, or it will not export," says Mason. Rival types such as the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] are already being offered with AESA systems.
[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] conducted test flights with the Euroradar consortium's Caesar active array using a Eurofighter development aircraft in 2007, and Selex has also previously supplied AESA systems to the UK Ministry of Defence for evaluation in fast jet types such as the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].
A prototype of the company's Vixen 1000E/Raven ES05 is also [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] airframe, with this viewed as a de-risking activity for a possible larger version for the Typhoon.

"E-scan was previously looked at as risky and potentially costly. Now the risk of doing nothing is worse," says Alastair Morrison, deputy senior vice-president radar and advanced targeting for Selex Galileo. "It's in everyone's interest to make this work."

Selex says an AESA array could now be produced for the same cost as a mechanically scanned system, but deliver a five- to 10-times increase in mean-time between critical failures, reducing maintenance and other through-life support costs.
The new technology also brings advances in detection range and performance, for example by operating "virtually instantaneously" in both air-to-air and air-to-ground modes. Selex has also developed a "swashplate repositioner", which enables the normally fixed AESA array to be moved laterally by +/-100°. "Germany now believes a repositioner of some sort is desirable," says Mason.
An AESA version of the Captor could also potentially be retrofitted to Tranche 2 aircraft for Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK.
Separately, Mason says Selex is now investigating wider uses for AESA radar technology, including possible communications and electronic attack modes. "We are looking at all applications," he says.

Eurofighter partner company BAE Systems has begun training technicians for final assembly of the Typhoon fighter jet in Saudi Arabia.
Alsalam Aircraft, which is partially owned by [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], has long been considered the likely partner for BAE in Saudi Arabia, which is committing to building the 48 aircraft balance of a 72-strong order for Typhoons after the delivery of 24 UK-built aircraft has been completed.
In his first-ever interview with the press, BAE's chief public relations representative in Saudi Arabia, Monther Tayeb, said at this week's [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] that BAE is "working with Alsalam", and that a three-year training programme for technicians has already started.
Initial training is taking place in Saudi Arabia. "The second part of the training will take place in the UK," says Tayeb, who adds that well over 100 new jobs will be created and that Alsalam will be the local technicians' employer.

Details remain at bay, however, about where the final assembly plant will be based, who will ultimately work to complete the aircraft in Saudi Arabia and the anticipated production rates, as these are government-to-government considerations.

BAE board member Peter Anstiss assures, however, that the programme is "going on at pace".
In June Saudi Arabia took delivery of its first two of 24 Typhoons originally scheduled for delivery to the UK [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] under the UK's Tranche 2 Eurofighter production order, but diverted to Riyadh under a government-to-government deal dubbed Project Salam.
A further four have since been delivered to Saudi Arabia, with two more scheduled to be delivered by year-end. In the 18-month period that the balance of UK-built Typhoons are delivered to Saudi Arabia, the new, purpose-built final assembly will be stood up in the kingdom.

Capturing new Typhoon business in the Middle East, meanwhile, was foremost on Eurofighter consortium's agenda as its aircraft made its first showing in Dubai.
Of the forecast 800 fighter sales in the medium term, Eurofighter's slice in the Middle East region could be 50-100 aircraft, says Eurofighter chief executive Enzo Casolini. The company marked the delivery of its 200th Typhoon during the air show.

Que le meilleur gagne ! À l'issue du Dubaï Air Show qui se terminera samedi, plusieurs armées de l'air vont concourir avec leurs meilleurs avions, lors d'une compétition qui se déroulera sur la grande base aérienne des Émirats, Al Dhafra : l'ATLC (Advanced Tactical Leadership Course). Côté français, les trois [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] qui participent au salon de Dubaï, en présentation statique et en vol, retrouveront à Al Dhafra trois autres Rafale désormais arrivés sur place, ce que confirme l'armée de l'air à Paris. Les ravitailleurs C-135FR qui avaient assuré le convoyage sont pour leur part déjà rentrés vers la France.

Le Rafale, fleuron de l'aviation militaire française, fait l'objet d'une très âpre négociation entre la France et les Émirats, qui ont annoncé leur intention d'en acquérir 60 exemplaires. Mais avec les Émiratis, commerçants-nés et négociateurs hors pair, rien n'est jamais gagné d'avance. Ils ont donc invité les trois armées de l'air armant les trois meilleurs avions d'armes actuels à concourir les unes contre les autres. Les 6 Rafale seront donc opposés à 6 chasseurs [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] américains. Ce dernier appareil n'avait pas été autorisé par le Pentagone à être exposé au dernier salon du Bourget, mais à Dubaï, il a multiplié les exhibitions. Sans être présent au sol (l'appareil de présentation venait d'Al Dhafra), il a remporté un vif succès de curiosité, notamment grâce aux manoeuvres saisissantes de virtuosité permises par ses tuyères à poussée vectorielle. Sans doute, le F-22 Raptor vaut-il près de deux fois plus cher que le Rafale, et sans doute est-il interdit d'exportation par le Congrès. Mais cette interdiction n'est peut-être pas figée dans le marbre, et des ventes hypothétiques au Japon et à Israël commencent à être évoquées. De plus, certaines sources à Dubaï évoquent une possible ouverture de porte aux Émirats par le F-22, au profit du [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] . Contre le Rafale, l'oncle Sam a toujours mis les petits plats dans les grands !

Enfin, les troisièmes participants de choix à l'ATLC seront des [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] de la Royal Air Force. La vente de 72 de ces avions à l'Arabie saoudite - dont les premiers exemplaires commencent à être livrés - s'est faite au détriment du Rafale, et on ne voit pas bien pourquoi cet avion renoncerait à faire valoir ses arguments, dès lors que le contrat entre le GIE Rafale et les Émiratis n'est pas encore signé... On notera enfin qu'au cours de l'ATLC les Français placeront 6 de leurs Mirage 2000-5 face à autant de modèles 2000-9 appartenant à l'armée de l'air des Émirats.

BERLIN - Germany's coalition government has confirmed that the Luftwaffe will not receive its final batch of Eurofighters. To date, Germany has firmly committed to 143 aircraft; now Tranche 3B, covering the final 37 jets originally planned for the Luftwaffe, will instead be made available for export.

Faced with penalties for non-acceptance of the 37 remaining aircraft, the German government has decided to put these Eurofighters up for sale, under an agreement issued by the new coalition government. The decision may appease Eurofighter officials, since there will be no reduction in the original 180-aircraft German order.

Jeannot a écrit:Un très long interview de Mr. Enzo Casolini, CEO de Eurofighter GmbHtrop long pour être reproduit ici mais bonne lecture.

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]

The UK is to advance its plans to equip future production examples of the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] with active electronically scanned array radars, under a new contract placed with [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].
The AESA radar technology demonstration programme is worth £19 million ($29.6 million) and will culminate with flights using a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Typhoon in the UK, the company says.
"The contract includes development and build of a first of type, multifunction, wide field of regard AESA radar providing increased capability and performance when compared to conventional AESA fire control radar systems," it adds.

Selex says the objective of the programme is to prove the utility of an AESA radar in performing tasks such as air-to-air operations, all-weather targeting by day or night, providing high-resolution synthetic aperture radar images, and for new applications, such as communications.
The demonstration effort is expected to draw on the company's "swashplate repositioner" technology, which allows a normally fixed array to be moved laterally by +/-100°. This system is now being flight-tested using Saab's Gripen Demo airframe.

Eurofighter partner nations Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK could consider making provisions for an AESA radar system as they finalise the specifications for their combined Tranche 3A order for 112 aircraft.
The new technology is also considered important as the industrial consortium behind the aircraft strives to secure new export sales, potentially to nations including India and Japan.

Des Eurofighter pourraient être achetés par le sultanat d'Oman

Le sultanat d'Oman a fait connaître son intention d'acheter un nombre non spécifié d'avions de combat Eurofighter, a annoncé vendredi un porte-parole du Premier ministre britannique Gordon Brown.
Le communiqué publié ne donne aucune précision sur le nombre d'appareils ni sur la date prévisionnelle de conclusion du contrat.
Le groupe britannique BAE Systems fabrique l'Eurofighter Typhoon avec l'italien Finmeccanica et le constructeur aéronautique franco-allemand EADS .
Les moteurs sont fournis par un groupement constitué du britannique Rolls-Royce et de l'allemand MTU Aero Engines .

Oman is in talks to buy [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] aircraft from the UK in a deal potentially worth billions of pounds and which could help ease the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]
Downing Street said on Friday the Gulf state had indicated its intention to buy the aircraft for the Royal Air Force of Oman.

The decision came in the wake of “wide-ranging discussions” over the past three years between Gordon Brown, prime minister, and the Sultan of Oman “on the importance of the close relationship between our two countries”.
Number 10 declined to give details of how many jets Oman was interested in buying, but said the deal would sustain British jobs.

Defence industry sources said the order could be for as many as 24 aircraft, as Oman has been looking to replace its 24 ageing Jaguar jets for some time. Oman has a close relationship with the UK which has supplied the sultanate with defence equipment for decades.
The decision is potentially good news for the MoD which has been struggling with a budget shortfall in its equipment programme estimated at £36bn over the next 10 years by the National Audit Office.

One of its largest – and most expensive – equipment commitments is the Typhoon. The UK is committed to buy 88 Typhoons from the aircraft’s third production run as part of its membership of the Eurofighter consortium which also includes Spain, Germany and Italy. Pressures on defence budgets led the four nations last year to agree to split the batch into two chunks, with the first bought immediately and the second requiring commitments in 2011.
Under that agreement the UK signed up for an initial 40 aircraft, although it was also allowed to count export orders to countries including Saudi Arabia towards its total so it only had to pay for 16 aircraft. Failure to take part in the agreement would have cost the UK an estimated £2bn in contractual penalties and would have led to thousands of job losses.

A deal with Oman could potentially help to reduce the UK’s commitment even further and help the MoD cut future expenditure.

The deal is also good news for [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], Europe’s largest defence contractor, which builds the aircraft together with European partners. The initial work is likely to take place at BAE’s site in Wharton in Cheshire.
“Oman is a country with which we have a long and valued relationship and we stand ready and willing to support any requirement it has,” said BAE.
An initial deal could be worth at least £1.4bn to the company but could lead to billions of pounds’ of maintenance and support work.
The multi-role fighter was originally designed to intercept Soviet bombers.