Eurofighter Typhoon: The King of Gen 4.5?
Video from the channel El lado correcto about Eurofighter Typhoon, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 15:30. Language: Spanish. Video type: Documentary.
What it's about
An explainer analysis of the Eurofighter Typhoon as a generation 4.5 fighter. It covers its origin, aerodynamics, powerplant, sensors and weaponry, and argues for its role alongside the F-35 in European air forces.
Historical context
The EFA (European Fighter Aircraft) programme emerged in the 1980s as a European response to Soviet fighters such as the Su-27 and MiG-29. The United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Spain joined forces after France left the project to develop the Rafale, a lighter, carrier-capable aircraft. The programme suffered delays and cuts after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the four founding partners remain its main operators, alongside Gulf customers such as Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Qatar.
Key facts
It has a delta-canard configuration and is deliberately unstable by design, with fly-by-wire control from four redundant computers. Its two Eurojet EJ200 turbofans each produce around 20,000 lb of thrust with afterburner, a thrust-to-weight ratio above one, and supercruise up to Mach 1.5. The early tranches carried the mechanically scanned Captor-M radar, later replaced by the AESA radars of the ECRS family, whose Mk 2 adds a repositioner that widens the lateral field of view. The sensor suite is completed by the passive PIRATE IRST and the Striker II helmet. It carries Meteor ramjet-powered missiles, IRIS-T and ASRAAM, and for ground attack Storm Shadow, Taurus KEPD 350 and Brimstone across 13 hardpoints. Upgrades under the LTE programme are meant to keep it in service beyond 2040.