The fighter jet protecting Britain every minute of every day
Typhoon F2
While the Eurofighter Typhoon is very much a 21st century aircraft which acts as the first line of defence in the event of enemy breach of British airspace, its history dates back to the early 1970s when UK defence chiefs were weighing up potential replacements for the SEPECAT Jaguar.
However, it would be decades later that the twin-engine aircraft created in a collaborative project between NATO European allies first took to the skies, with the RAF’s Typhoon force today located at sites both at home and abroad.
Perhaps its most important function is in the QRA (Quick Reaction Alert) role at Lossiemouth and Coningsby – pilots and ground staff on constant alert, day and night, to get the jets airborne in minutes to intercept unidentified aircraft approaching the UK.
While the jet’s QRA function is perhaps its most crucial in a defensive capacity, the Typhoon is a multi-role fighter capable of deployment in a range of operations, regularly involved in air policing and peacekeeping as well as being a high-intensity intercept aircraft able to travel at speeds in excess of 1,500mph carrying a range of missiles and bombs.
But it was back in the 1970s that discussions regarding a replacement for the Jaguar saw defence chiefs show an interest in what was then British Aerospace’s Hawker P.96, the design produced for a twin-engine swept-wing fighter jet that resembled the McDonnell Douglas Hornet; that particular project, however, did not progress beyond the drawing board.
By the late 1970s, Britain had partnered with France and West Germany on the European Combat Fighter (ECF) study, which led to proposals for a five-nation consortium to spread the cost – Spain and Italy joining the project.
As so often happens with projects such as this, politics and costs produce delays, and it was 1983 when Britain ordered EAP (Experimental Aircraft Programme) demonstrators, BAE Systems constructing a prototype utilising Tornado RB.199 engines and a delta wing design, the aircraft first flying on August 6, 1986 and bearing a striking resemblance to the eventual Typhoon.
By this time, the Euro-wide consortium had again been modified, with France opting to develop their own fighter, the Dassault Rafale, leaving a four-strong field of the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain; following unification of Germany in 1990, its chancellor Helmut Kohl had committed to cancel his country’s involvement in the Eurofighter, but the threat to German jobs dependent on the scheme and the prohibitive cost of a withdrawal saw him reverse his opposition, a move that effectively saved the Typhoon.
The first Eurofighter prototype flew in 1994 in Bavaria, but it would be another eight years before No. XVII (Reserve) Squadron was reformed at the BAE Systems operated Warton Aerodrome in Lancashire, a specialist facility constructed at the site.
BAE at Warton was one of the four separate Typhoon assembly lines, the other three being at Manching (Germany), Turin (Italy), and Getafe (Spain) – one for each of the partner nations, with each country assembling its own aircraft but building the same sections/parts for all aircraft; BAE Systems provides the front fuselage, canopy, dorsal spine, tail fin, inboard flaperons and rear fuselage section,
Typhoon assembly line
The Typhoon engine is the EJ200, a product of the consortium of manufacturers, largely based on the Rolls Royce XG-40, providing 20,000 pounds of thrust and deemed to be one of the most advances in its class.
The Typhoon was certainly ground-breaking, along with speeds in excess of Mach 2 it combined its high-performance payload with extreme aerodynamic agility and advanced sensor technology – a ‘4.5 generation’ fighter ranked as one of the best non-stealth jets in operation.
Developed as both single and twin-seat models – the twin-seat is predominantly for training but can be made combat compatible – the aircraft entered production in 2000 as Tranche 1, with Typhoon capabilities increased incrementally with software updates; the latest variant is Tranche 5, equipped with the latest in avionics, electronic warfare suite, and weapon integrations.
It was the early 2000s that No. 17 (R) was tasked with the role of Typhoon Operational Evaluation Unit (TOEU), receiving its first aircraft in December 2003. No. XVII relocated to Coningsby in April 2005, with No. 29 Squadron serving as the first Typhoon Operations Conversion Unit (OCU), with the first operational RAF Typhoon unit, No. 3 (Fighter) Squadron, formed on March 31, 2006.
No. 3 (F) moved to Coningsby to assume QRA duties from the Tornado on June 29, 2007, the two jets initially both operating in the role, before the Typhoon took on sole duties at both Coningsby and Leuchars, then later at Lossiemouth, which assumed the northern QRA role in September 2014.
The transfer from Tornado to Typhoon continued with four of the new aircraft deployed to RAF Mount Pleasant on the Falkland Islands late in 2009, and in March 2011, ten were flown to Gioia del Colle in Italy to help police the no-fly zone in Libya.
During their operations from the base in southern Italy as part of Operation Ellamy, the Typhoons worked alongside Tornados, with April 12, 2011 seeing a Typhoon and a Tornado drop laser-guided bombs on tanks of Colonel Gaddafi – the operation was the Typhoon’s first in a ground-attack role.
RAF Typhoons on Op Ellamy
Despite the ever-inflating cost of the project, the success of the Typhoon did not go un-noticed beyond the four partner nations, with Austria, Saudi Arabia and Qatar among countries placing orders for the aircraft; the co-operation between the RAF and Qatari Amiri Air Force saw 12 Squadron operate as a joint RAF/QAAF training unit, marking the first time since World War Two that Britain had formed a squadron with another nation.
The RAF’s fleet of Typhoons have been involved in operations across the globe, working alongside allies on training exercises and active operations, and they will continue to do so for decades to come.
There are six frontline RAF Typhoon squadrons, the joint UK-Qatari 12 Squadron, the OCU, and No. 41 (XLI) Test & Evaluation Squadron based at Coningsby, part of the Air & Space Warfare centre.
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