Eurofighter Typhoon Has Something Just Like the F-35 (Not Stealth) – Quick, name a fighter jet that is always in “beast mode”—meaning, chock full of weapons at all times. You may think of old standbys such as the F-16 and F-15, or newer, stealthy American warbirds like the F-35 and F-22.
But what if I told you that one of the most powerful fighter jets in the world with beast mode-like weapons configurations comes from Europe? I’m referring to the Eurofighter Typhoon, a fighter that can bring doom and destruction to the enemy in unforgettable fashion.
Eurofighter Typhoon Has Beast Mode Like F-35
The weapons on the Eurofighter Typhoon begin with the jet’s internal 27-mm Mauser cannon, which is designed to blast enemy fighters. Alongside the Mauser are munitions especially suited for dogfighting, like the advanced short range air-to-air missile (ASRAAM) and the advanced medium-range air-to-air missile (AMRAAM).
These weapons can fire and fly during night or day, and in any kind of weather. They use terminal guidance and terminal active-radar homing with a solid-fuel rocket motor.
You Don’t Want to Be Hit By a Meteor
If the ground crews don’t load the American ASRAAM and AMRAAM systems onto the airplane, they can instead arm the European-made Meteor missile. This is a beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile, and the armament can take on multiple targets with multiple launches.
The warhead is a high-explosive blast fragmentation model that can blow an enemy airplane out of the sky. The Meteor can also be used to take out drones and ballistic missiles, which comes in handy in an evolving modern threat environment in which unmanned craft and enemy projectiles proliferate.
Bomb Them to the Stone Age
Then there are the bombs. The Eurofighter Typhoon can drop Enhanced Paveway II and Paveway IV precision-guided bombs. The Paveway II and Paveway II-plus have an advanced guidance system that uses a semi-active laser seeker. Canards guide the Paveways to paydirt.
These laser-guided bombs also have a computer control group to make sure the weapons stay on path to the target.
The Paveway IV is the latest iteration of the family, and the most precise of the bunch. These bombs can hit a target within a Circular Error Probable radius of three meters.
Pilots can drop the Paveway IV from medium or high altitude to stay out of range of enemy surface-to-air missiles.
Their range is 10 to 15 nautical miles.
Missiles for Ground Strike
Don’t forget air-to-ground missiles. The Eurofighter Typhoon comes armed with Storm Shadow and Brimstone missiles for surface strikes. It uses the Storm Shadow/ Scalp projectile for long-range attacks, and once again, this means the Typhoon can fly out of range of enemy defenses and bring doom to the enemy.
The Storm Shadow can be guided by GPS and inertial navigation. It starts from altitude, then darts down low to travel at high speeds while hugging the earth.
This makes it difficult to track by radar. It has a range of about 155 miles.
This weapon is great for hard targets and underground weapons-storage depots. It is being used effectively by the Ukrainians against long-range targets inside Russia.
The Brimstone air-to-ground missile is noteworthy too, and the Typhoon is geared especially to fire it. The Brimstone has the outstanding ability to hit moving targets, and a single mission load can engage several enemy installations or vehicles.
The Brimstone can be used to blow up adversarial runways, and it even has a maritime antiship model that would make the Typhoon tailor-made to attack enemy vessels.
Typhoon Made Libyan Combatants Pay the Price
At least nine different air forces fly the Eurofighter Typhoon. It is not fully stealthy, but it does have modern radar-evading attributes. The British Royal Air Force and the Italian Air Force made good use of the Typhoon during the NATO intervention in Libya in 2011.
The Typhoon made ample use of Storm Shadow and Brimstone missiles for ground attacks during that conflict, plus the Paveway bombs. These munitions destroyed many ground positions. Typhoons also collected targeting data and reconnaissance intelligence.
In future engagements, the Eurofighter Typhoon could fly with fifth-generation airplanes like the F-35 to enhance the effectiveness of ground strikes after the stealth fighters clear out enemy air defenses during a Day One “bloody nose” strike.
Then the Typhoon could arrive at the scene and damage an adversarial air base to keep enemy fighters from responding.
As you can see, the Typhoon is an excellent airplane for dogfighting and ground-strike roles. It can conduct simple air-policing missions, along with more difficult surface-strike roles. While not stealthy, it is interoperable with fifth-generation jets.
This makes it a worthy adversary in combat. The air forces that fly it are excited about what it brings to the table, and it is a beast-like character when it comes to the weapons it can deliver during a fight.
About the Author: Dr. Brent M. Eastwood
Brent M. Eastwood, PhD is the author of Don’t Turn Your Back On the World: a Conservative Foreign Policy and Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare plus two other books. Brent was the founder and CEO of a tech firm that predicted world events using artificial intelligence. He served as a legislative fellow for U.S. Senator Tim Scott and advised the senator on defense and foreign policy issues. He has taught at American University, George Washington University, and George Mason University. Brent is a former U.S. Army Infantry officer. He can be followed on X @BMEastwood.
