Eurofighter Typhoon DA3

DA3 was built by Alenia and was the first Eurofighter fitted with EJ200 engines from the outset. It first flew on 4 June 1995 with Phase 1 software, piloted by Napoleone Bragagnolo. EJ200-01C engines were fitted during 1996, and in December of that year the aircraft was used for in-flight engine relight trials. On 5 December 1997 it made the first flight with two 1,000-litre underwing tanks, and EJ200-03A engines followed in spring 1998. In March 1999 it reached Mach 1.6 with two underwing tanks, repeating the figure with three tanks in December. Weapon release trials also began that year. An upgrade of the internal gun and the ejection seat started on 31 March 2000, the first gun firing took place on 13 March 2002, and the first airborne firing followed in March 2004. Air-to-air gunnery trials began in March 2005. Until August 2005 the aircraft was used for flutter testing from Decimomannu air base, and from September it flew with GBU-10 bombs. In early 2006 it flew performance measurement sorties, including glide ratio work, and released air-to-ground munitions. Its last flight was on 7 February 2006, and the airframe is displayed at Leonardo's factory museum in Caselle.