Eurofighter Typhoon

The four-nation Eurofighter Typhoon is a twin-engine canard-delta wing, beyond-visual-range, close air fighter aircraft with surface attack capability. Eurofighter has 'supercruise' capability: it can fly at sustained speeds of over Mach 1 without the use of afterburner.
Development of the aircraft has been carried out by Eurofighter GmbH, based in Munich and wholly owned by BAE Systems of the UK, Alenia Aeronautica of Italy and the EADS Deutschland (formerly DaimlerChrysler) and EADS Spain (formerly CASA).


The aircraft has entered service with the British Royal Air Force, the German Luftwaffe, the Italian Air Force, the Spanish Air Force and the Austrian Air Force. Saudi Arabia has signed a £4.43 billion (approx. €6.4  billion c. 2007, $9.5 billion) contract for 72 aircraft.
After the F-22 Raptor the Eurofighter is considered by many experts to be the most advanced fighter now in development. The fighter incorporates a high level of stealth technology, but primarily as an afterthought. It lacks the internal weapons carriage, and careful internal and external design features of the F-22.


Gallery

Specifications

General characteristics
Crew: 1 (operational aircraft) or 2 (training aircraft)
Length: 15.96 m (52 ft 5 in)
Wingspan: 10.95 m (35 ft 11 in)
Height: 5.28 m (17 ft 4 in)
Wing area: 51.2 m2 (551 ft2)
Empty weight: 11,000 kg (24,250 lb)
Loaded weight: 16,000 kg (35,300 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 23,500 kg (51,800 lb)
Powerplant: 2× Eurojet EJ200 afterburning turbofan
Dry thrust: 60 kN (13,500 lbf) each
Thrust with afterburner: 90 kN (20,250 lbf) each


Performance
Maximum speed:
At altitude: Mach 2 (2,495 km/h, 1,550 mph)
At sea level: Mach 1.2 (1,470 km/h / 913.2 mph)
Supercruise: Mach 1.1–1.5
Range: 2,900 km (1,840 mi)
Combat radius:
Ground attack, lo-lo-lo: 601 km (325 nmi)
Ground attack, hi-lo-hi: 1,389 km (750 nmi)
Air defence with 3-hr CAP: 185 km (100 nmi)
Air defence with 10-min loiter: 1,389 km (863 nmi)
Ferry range: 3,790 km (2,300 mi)
Service ceiling: 19,810 m (65,000 ft)
Rate of climb: >315 m/s (62,000 ft/min)
Wing loading: 312 kg/m2 (64.0 lb/ft2)


Armament
Guns: 1 × 27 mm Mauser BK-27 cannon with 150 rounds
Hardpoints: Total of 13: 8 × under-wing plus 5 × under-fuselage pylon stations holding up to 7,500 kg (16,500 lb) of payload
Missiles:
Air-to-air missiles:
AIM-9 Sidewinder, AIM-132 ASRAAM, AIM-120 AMRAAM, IRIS-T, and, in the future, MBDA Meteor
Air-to-surface missiles:
AGM-84 Harpoon, AGM-88 HARM, ALARM, Storm Shadow (AKA Scalp EG), Brimstone, Taurus KEPD 350, Penguin and in the future AGM Armiger
Bombs: Paveway II/III/Enhanced Paveway series of Laser-guided bombs (LGBs), Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), HOPE/HOSBO
Others:
Flares/infrared decoys dispenser pod and chaff pod and
Electronic countermeasures (ECM) pods
LITENING III laser targeting pod
Up to 3 drop tanks for ferry flight or extended range/loitering time.


Avionics
Euroradar CAPTOR Radar
Passive Infra-Red Airborne Tracking Equipment (PIRATE)