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How long does it take a Eurofighter to cross Spain?

Short answer

About one hour. The peninsula measures roughly 1,000 km from east to west, from Creus to Fisterra, and a Eurofighter in subsonic cruise flies at about 900-950 km/h (Mach 0.85-0.9 at altitude). At its top speed of Mach 2, it would take about 30 minutes, but afterburner fuel burn and restrictions on supersonic flight over land make that impossible in practice.

How long does it take a Eurofighter to cross Spain?
RAF Eurofighter TyphoonPeter Gronemann (CC BY), vía commons

The starting numbers

The Eurofighter Typhoon reaches Mach 2 (about 2,100 km/h at high altitude) according to its manufacturer, and can sustain a supersonic cruise without afterburner, around Mach 1.2, in a clean configuration. In a normal transfer flight, however, it flies like any jet: between Mach 0.85 and 0.9 at 10,000-12,000 m (33,000-40,000 ft), i.e., a true airspeed of about 900-950 km/h. Spain, from east to west, measures nearly 1,000 km in a straight line between Cap de Creus and Fisterra, and about 850 km from north to south between the Cantabrian coast and Tarifa.

Three crossing scenarios

In subsonic cruise, which is how flights between Morón and Albacete or deployments to the Baltic are done, the full crossing takes a bit over an hour, including climb and descent. At a supersonic cruise of Mach 1.2 it would drop to about 45 minutes, but would require reserved airspace for the entire route. At Mach 2 the theoretical time is around half an hour; the problem is that afterburner empties the internal tanks within minutes, and the range at that speed isn't enough to cross the peninsula.

Why it's never done at top speed

Supersonic flight over land is restricted in peacetime due to sonic booms, and is only authorized in working areas over the sea or sparsely populated areas. Real air-policing alerts are the only case where a Typhoon actually accelerates, and even then the fast segment is short and aimed at the interception point, not coast to coast. For a fighter jet, crossing Spain is mainly a matter of fuel and rules, not power.

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