[Infographic] Next-gen Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet takes to the skies

The first Eurofighter Typhoon of the so-called Tranche 3 standard, has started its flight tests at BAE Warton, UK.

Tranche 3 is the latest version of the Typhoon which embedded hundreds of modifications to make the combat plane more attractive to current and potential export customers.

Even if little has changed from an aesthetic point of view, the aircraft has a number of small panels on the fuselage that are there to accomodate the fitting of CFT (Conformal Fuel Tanks).

A new internal structure in the nose secion was designed to accomodate wirings, power, cooling and electronics for the new E-Scan radar.

Next-gen Typhoon features Hi-speed Data Networking capabilities, Fibre optics weapons bus and more computing power.

The first Tranche 3 has been produced for the RAF by the Eurofighter consortium and assembled by BAE Systems.

Under the Tranche 3A contract signed back in 2009, a total of 112 aircraft have been ordered by Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, with 40 examples for Royal Air Force.

The 400th Eurofighter Typhoon was delivered to the German Air Force during a special ceremony held at Cassidian’s Military Air Systems Center in Manching, Southern Germany, on Dec. 4, 2013.

 Image credit: BAE Systems

Related articles

• Eurofighter Typhoon flies with Storm Shadow air-launched Cruise Missiles
• Italian Typhoons train with Bulgarian Mig-29s. Will Eurofighters replace local Fulcrums?
• Hi-speed Secure Network connected Eurofighter Typhoons with assets across UK in live battlespace scenario
• [Photo] Joint Terminal Attack Controllers working two Eurofighter Typhoons at night
• Eurofighter Typhoon Enhancement Program delivers robust simultaneous multi-/swing-role capability
• [Photo] The most stunning images of RAF Photographic Competition 2013
• [Photo] When US Navy F-4 Phantom jets met Soviet Tu-95 Bear bombers

About David Cenciotti

WebsiteFacebookTwitterLinkedIn instagram

David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.