Synopsis: The Eurofighter Typhoon entered service two decades ago, but continual upgrades have positioned it to remain viable into the 2040s and beyond.
-While it lacks fifth-generation stealth, the jet retains high-end performance with Mach 2 speed, strong thrust-to-weight, and a modernized mission system built around new software, sensors, and weapons.
F-35 fighter.
An F-35A Lightning II taxis down the flightline in a Beast Mode weapons configuration July 22, 2020, at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz. The weapons configuration consists of six inert GBU-12 bombs, four mounted onto the wings and two loaded into the weapons bay, as well as an AIM-9X air-to-air training missile. The Beast Mode weapons configuration provides F-35 B-Course student pilots with the additional training and experience needed for potential combat sorties and helps train the world’s greatest F-35 pilots and combat ready Airmen. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Alexander Cook)
-Operators have steadily expanded the Typhoon’s strike and air-to-air reach with advanced munitions like Storm Shadow, Brimstone II, and Meteor, while improved sensing—such as PIRATE and an AESA radar—enhances tracking and situational awareness.
-The result is an older airframe that fights like a newer aircraft.
Eurofighter Typhoon: The 20-Year-Old Fighter Still Built for the 2040s
The Eurofighter Typhoon, a famous multinational fighter jet, entered service 20 years ago, just a few years before the arrival of the US F-22 in 2005.
Yet, it has received such a high volume of advanced weapons and technology upgrades that it is poised to remain operational into the 2040s and beyond.
The Typhoon is not as stealthy as the 5th-generation F-22, yet it is engineered with an F-22-like speed of Mach 2 and excellent thrust-to-weight ratio.
A U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor soars above the United Arab Emirates March 16, 2022. The F-22 Raptors were rapidly deployed on order from the U.S. Secretary of Defense in coordination with the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and have joined a range of joint, coalition, and allied and partner combat airpower capabilities already based across the region. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Christopher Ruano)
A U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor assigned to the 3rd Wing takes off from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, Nov 21., 2023. The F-22 Raptor is a critical component of the Global Strike Task Force, and is designed to project dominance rapidly and at a great distance to defeat threats. (U.S. Air Force photo by Alejandro Peña)
While the airframes of the Eurofighter Typhoon date back several decades, they have remained viable and have received maintenance and sustainment in recent years.
Airframes themselves can remain viable for decades, provided they receive sufficient and regular maintenance with structural reinforcement as needed.
Therefore, with a solid airframe, a fighter jet can be upgraded with new weapons, software, sensors, computing, avionics, and communications technology, making it almost entirely different from the aircraft it was at its inception.
The UK, Germany, Italy, and Spain originally used the aircraft. It has since expanded to fly with many countries, such as Austria, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait.
Thrust to Weight Ratio
The Typhoon achieves an F-22-like thrust-to-weight ratio with its lightweight materials and Eurojet 2000 engines; the aircraft is built with 70 percent carbon fiber composites.
Software upgrades to the Eurofighter Typhoon have enabled a “swing-roll” capability.
A Typhoon pilot told me at the Farnborough Airshow in 2014 that swing-roll allows the fighter to perform multiple functions simultaneously, such as firing missiles and dropping bombs.
The Eurofighter has been equipped with an entirely new generation of weapons in recent years, technologies that drastically improve the range, reach, accuracy, and lethality of its attack capabilities.
The aircraft has 13 hardpoints, and the GPS and laser-guided bombs carried by the Typhoon include 2,000-pound, 1,000-pound, and 500-pound GBUs, as well as the Paveway IV, a 500-pound laser-guided bomb.
The Typhoon has, for instance, been equipped with a European missile known as the Storm Shadow, a highly lethal air-launched missile.
Typhoon jets used the Storm Shadow to destroy Saddam Hussein’s bunkers at the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.
Known for its accuracy, the Storm Shadow can achieve precision targeting and fire two missiles through the exact same hole in an enemy bunker target.
An RAF Tornado GR4 aircraft carrying two Storm Shadow missiles under the fuselage. This long-range air-launched and conventionally-armed missile equips RAF Tornado GR4 squadrons and saw operational service in 2003 with 617 Squadron during combat in Iraq, prior to entering full service in 2004. Post deployment analysis demonstrated the missile’s exceptional accuracy, and the effect on targets was described as devastating. Based on this performance, it is arguably the most advanced weapon of its kind in the world.
The weapon employs a special double-charge explosive effect, known as a BROACH warhead, which features an initial penetrating blast followed by a controlled detonation of the main warhead, utilizing a variable delay fuze.
The Storm Shadow, also used on the Royal Air Force’s Tornado aircraft, is built with a stealthy external configuration and features a multi-mode GPS and inertial navigation precision guidance system.
Eurofighter was armed with a European missile called Meteor, which significantly increases what pilots refer to as the “no-escape range”—the distance or point at which an air-to-air adversary cannot fly away from or escape an approaching missile.
Enhancements to the Typhoon include the addition of a short-range stand-off missile called Brimstone II.
This precision-guided weapon has also been in service on the British Tornado aircraft. Designed initially as a tank-killer weapon, Brimstone II is engineered with an all-weather, highly precise millimeter wave seeker.
In Afghanistan many years ago, a Brimstone was used to destroy an Al Qaeda vehicle traveling at 60km per hour. The Typhoon has also been armed with a European missile called Meteor, which significantly increases the “no-escape range.”
Eurofighter Typhoon Sensing
The sensing technology on board the Typhoon fighter is called Pirate, or Passive Infrared and Targeting Equipment. It is a combination of infrared search and track and forward-looking infrared sensors.
The Typhoon’s cockpit features three large LCD displays, which the pilot can switch between to assess mission requirements. Many of the displays include situational awareness information, such as moving digital maps, atmospheric information, sensor data, and targeting information.
The Typhoon’s active electronically scanned array radar, or AESA, provides pilots with an expanded field of view compared to most existing radars, as it can track multiple targets simultaneously.
The AESA provides a mechanical ability to rapidly reposition the receiver, increasing the area it can pick up signals.
The new radar is designed to work in conjunction with other on-board sensors, such as forward-looking infrared sensors and passive infrared tracking technology, to locate stealth aircraft with a low radar cross-section.
About the Author: Kris Osborn, Warrior Maven President
Kris Osborn is the President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.
