The Eurofighter Typhoon Fighter Jet may have emerged in 2003. Yet, the aircraft has received software, weapons, computing, and electronics upgrades to help the airframe sustain the high-level combat performance necessary to prove valuable in a modern high-threat environment. The aircraft began its service with the UK, Germany, Italy, and Spain but has moved forward to fly with many countries, such as Austria, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait.
While not quite as stealthy or fast as an F-22, the Typhoon was built with F-22-like performance parameters such as an impressive thrust-to-weight ratio and Mach 2 speed. Airframes can remain viable for decades, provided they receive sufficient and regular maintenance with structural reinforcement as needed. Therefore, with a solid airframe, a fighter jet can be upgraded with new weapons, software, sensors, computing, avionics, and communications technology, making it an almost entirely different aircraft than it was at its inception.
This transformation is the case with the US F-15 and F-16, which emerged in the 1980s and are still flying today as competitive, highly capable, upgraded 4th-generation aircraft. In the case of the F-15 and F-16, the continued modernization is referred to as a Service Life Extension Plan, comparable to Europe’s Typhoon fighter jet.
Thrust to Weight Ratio
The Typhoon achieves its high-performance “thrust-to-weight” ratio with its lightweight materials and Eurojet 2000 engines; the aircraft is built with 70-percent carbon fiber composites. Software upgrades to the Typhoon have enabled a “swing-roll” capability, something a Typhoon pilot told me at the Farnborough Airshow in 2014, allowing the fighter to perform multiple functions simultaneously, such as fire missiles and drop bombs.
Typhoon Eurofighter Weapons
The Eurofighter was upgraded with a new generation of weapons in recent years, technologies that drastically improve the range, reach, accuracy, and lethality of its attack capabilities. The aircraft has 13 hardpoints, and the GPS and laser-guided bombs carried by the Typhoon include 2,000, 1,000, and 500-pound GBUs and the Paveway IV, a 500-pound laser-guided bomb.
German Air Force Eurofighter. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
