What is the Eurofighter like?

The Typhoon was born in the 1980s as the European Fighter Aircraft, when the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and Spain decided to jointly build the replacement for their Phantoms, Tornados, and F-104s. The first prototype flew at Manching in March 1994, and the aircraft entered service in 2003. It is built by BAE Systems, Airbus, and Leonardo through the Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH consortium, with final assembly lines in all four countries; in Spain it is assembled in Getafe. Beyond the partner nations, it is also operated by Austria, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, and Qatar.

It is a single-seater, with a two-seat trainer version, with a delta wing and forward canards, an aerodynamically unstable configuration that a quadruple fly-by-wire control system turns into agility. It measures 15.96 m in length, 10.95 m in wingspan, and 5.28 m in height; it weighs around 11 tonnes empty and can take off at up to 23.5 tonnes. Its two Eurojet EJ200 turbofans deliver 60 kN each dry and 90 kN with afterburner, enough to exceed Mach 2 at high altitude, climb to 16,700 m (55,000 ft), and sustain supersonic flight without afterburner. Around 70% of the structure is made of carbon fiber. The cockpit features HOTAS controls, voice control, and a helmet with an integrated display.

The Captor radar, with a mechanical antenna in the earliest tranches and electronic scanning in the most recent ones, is paired with the PIRATE infrared sensor and the DASS self-protection system. It carries a Mauser BK-27 cannon and 13 hardpoints for Meteor, AMRAAM, IRIS-T, and ASRAAM air-to-air missiles, Paveway guided bombs, and Storm Shadow or Taurus cruise missiles. Designed as an air superiority fighter, it has evolved into a multirole aircraft that also carries out strike and reconnaissance missions.