Eurofighter Typhoon: Das modernste Luftwaffen-System weltweit

Video from the channel BILD about Eurofighter Typhoon, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 8:48. Language: German. Video type: Documentary.

A BILD report following the transfer of six Luftwaffe Eurofighters from the Neuburg an der Donau base to Singapore as part of the Rapid Pacific 2022 mission. It combines this with explanations of the aircraft's capabilities and its role in NATO's air policing over the Baltic.

The Eurofighter began as a joint programme between Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. Since each partner had different priorities, development sparked debate. It was conceived as an air-superiority fighter against the Warsaw Pact and, after the end of the Cold War, was adapted into a multirole aircraft. The first units reached the Luftwaffe in 2003, after almost twenty years of development. The report recalls that British aircraft used it over Libya, first to enforce the no-fly zone and later against ground targets, and that British and Saudi squadrons used it against Islamic State in Syria.

The aircraft has thirteen hardpoints, four under each wing and five under the fuselage. On them it carries short- and long-range missiles, radar- or laser-guided bombs and 2,000-litre auxiliary fuel tanks. It can carry the Meteor missile, which can be retargeted in flight from another aircraft. The transfer, with a stopover in Abu Dhabi and six in-flight refuellings, is completed in under 24 hours. The video presents it as the largest deployment in Luftwaffe history and its first presence in the Pacific. Over the Baltic, two aircraft must be airborne within fifteen minutes, and in 2022 there were 570 scramble take-offs, double the previous year. The report adds that the Luftwaffe will also take on the F-35 and that five other countries operate the Eurofighter, including Austria, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.