On the 16^th of December 1983, the Chiefs of Staff of the British, West German, French, Italian & Spanish air forces signed a preliminary design agreement for a Future European Fighter Aircraft. France withdrew in 1985, leaving only four members participating in the project. In June of the following year, Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH was formed in Munich to oversee the European Fighter Aircraft programme. After several years of development, the first Eurofighter Development Aircraft (DA1) flew at Manching, Germany on the 27^th of March 1994.

The Eurofighter was designed primarily as a fighter, with superb manoeuvrability  & an advanced avionics suite, though it is also able to perform in the Air-to-Surface role. It incorporates features such as an ACS (Armament Control System), DVI (Direct Voice Input) Control & a 24-function HOTAS system, & makes great use of composite materials for airframe construction. It is powered by two Eurojet EJ200 Turbofans with 9,185kg (21,495lbs) thrust. The Eurofighter’s first Mach 2 flight was on the 23^rd of December, 1997, & was completed by DA2. A month later, in January 1998, the first in-flight refuelling was completed by the Eurofighter.

The Eurofighter Typhoon has two major competitors; the French Dassault Rafale & the Swedish Saab JAS 39 Gripen. The Rafale is produced in three variants. The Rafale C is the Armée de l'Air single-seat operational variant, the Rafale B is a two-seat multi-role variant & the Rafale M is the naval variant. France considered buying the Eurofighter to meet two separate requirements; the Armée de l'Air requirement for a SEPECAT Jaguar replacement & the Aéronavale requirement for a carrier based multi-role aircraft. Rafale was selected instead, & France pulled out of the Eurofighter project. The Gripen is also similar to the Eurofighter, but is unlikely to be exported.

The Eurofighter will replace the Panavia Tornado ADV & SEPECAT Jaguar, a total of 232 aircraft being ordered by the RAF. Deliveries should begin in 2002. It can carry a variety of Air-to-Air & Air-to-Surface weapons on its thirteen hardpoints (capable of carrying up to 7,500kg of stores in total), including AMRAAM, BVRAAM, Aspide, Sky Flash, Sidewinder, ASRAAM & IRIS-T air-to-air missiles & Storm Shadow, Taurus, JDAM, ALARM, HARM, Brimstone, BL-755 & Harpoon air-to-surface weapons. So far, the UK (232 aircraft), Germany, Italy & Spain have ordered Eurofighters at a price of over £60 million each. The Eurofighter is value for money, however, as it combines staggering performance & advanced electronics with large weapons carriage capability & ease of maintenance. In fact, the Eurofighter is so well designed, its entire engine assembly can be replaced in only 45 minutes.

The Eurofighter Typhoon is designed for a new generation of threats & situations. The comprehensive electronics suite combined with superior weapons & high performance makes the Eurofighter the most advanced aircraft in the world behind the Lockheed/Boeing F-22 of the USAF, which is too expensive to acquire in sufficient numbers to be effective. The Eurofighter Typhoon can carry up to ten AAMs on its 13 hardpoints, which means a single flight of Eurofighters can take on a sizeable force of enemy aircraft. ASRAAM is the primary short-range AAM for use on the Eurofighter, but alternatives do exist (such as the outdated AIM-9 Sidewinder). The AIM-120 AMRAAM will be fitted to RAF Eurofighters initially as a Beyond Visual Range AAM (BVRAAM), but will be replaced by the Meteor BVRAAM after several years. The Eurofighter can also carry a wide range of stores for air-to-surface missions.

British ALARMs can be carried for any mission & are devastatingly effective against most modern radar systems. New weapons such as Storm Shadow, JDAM & Brimstone make the Eurofighter extremely effective against a wide variety of surface targets at differing ranges. Eurofighter Typhoons are also able to destroy naval surface vessels with SSMs (usually Harpoon). The aircraft's electronics systems (such as the DASS (Defensive Aids Sub-System) & IRST (InfraRed Search & Track System) passive tracking sensor) protect the aircraft & add to its already comprehensive view of its surroundings with the CAPTOR ECR-90 EuroRadar. The DASS is designed & built by the EuroDASS consortium (led by BAe Systems Avionics), & incorporates ECM/ESM systems, Threat Warning systems & SaabTech Electronics BOL Chaff/Flare dispensers. IRST provides passive sensor coverage, & is useful for situations where the radar has to be switched-off to avoid detection by the enemy.

The Eurofighter is perfect for modern warfare, not only because of its electronics & weapons systems but also because of its performance. Eurofighter Typhoon has 'supercruise' capability; it can fly at sustained speeds of over Mach 1 without using its afterburners. Maximum speed with afterburners is Mach 2 in level flight. The Eurofighter has a take-off run of 700m, which allows it to operate from short runways easily, so it can get closer to the battle area for faster reaction times.

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