Tranche 3 Typhoon first flight

First Tranche 3 production of the Eurofighter Typhoon made its maiden flight on 2 December from Warton in the UK. Flown by BAE test pilot Nat Makepeace, the aircraft (BS 116) is one of the 40 Tranche 3 aircraft being produced for the Royal Air Force

and equipped with a series of enhancements over previous examples. Germany, Italy and Spain will receive combined a further 72 Tranche 3 Eurofighters. “Work has been carried out on power, cooling and electronics so that a new E-scan (active electronically scanned array) radar could be accommodated,” according to BAE Systems. The Euroradar consortium and Selex ES are working on candidate systems, with BAE having already performed a trial installation with the UK’s Typhoon instrument production aircraft 5. Another design change introduced for the Tranche 3 standard is the option of installing conformal fuel tanks.

Wind tunnel work has been performed on the design change, which will be the subject of future flight-testing. “These would give the aircraft greater range, and make available hardpoints under the aircraft for larger or additional weapons.” Partner company Alenia Aermacchi conducted the first flight test of a Eurofighter in late November 2013 carrying two MBDA Storm Shadow cruise missiles, a stand-off-range type which will be employed with the Typhoon by Italy and the UK.

According to BAE, the Tranche 3 enhancements will “futureproof the aircraft and make it more attractive to current and potential export customers.”