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EUROFIGHTER SERIES PRODUCTION STARTS

31 August represented an important milestone for the EADS (formerly Dasa) factory in Manching, for it was on that Thursday that the first fully outfitted mid section of the fuselage for Eurofighter production aircraft number 1 was handed over to BAE Systems. This event showed that the Germans at least are fully on schedule and have done their bit to ensure that Instrumented Production Aircraft (IPA) 1 can be delivered at Warton by 31 August 2001. Failure to meet the deadline would incur a contractual penalty.

Altogether three Eurofighters will roll out of production next year, followed by a further eight aircraft in 2002. The Eurofighter Partner Companies (EPCs) are convinced that they can meet this schedule. "Over the last 12 months we have met 18 out of our 19 scheduled production milestones," explains Erwin Obermeier, EADS military production programme manager in Germany. Nearly all the tools and jigs needed for production have been procured in the meantime, and in the individual factories in Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy and Spain a number of major subassemblies are already taking shape.

As progress is made on the manufacturing side, the certainty of planning among the armed forces as regards the long-awaited entry into service of the new fourth generation multi-role fighter aircraft is growing. The first service to become operational will be the Royal Air Force. After two IPAs which are to be used for test purposes and a two-seater airframe which is to undergo fatigue testing, the RAF will take delivery of its first two-seater in June 2002. This, together with some additional aircraft, will initially be used for training at BAE Systems in Warton until towards the end of 2003 sufficient planes are available to commission a conversion training squadron at RAF Coningsby. The first operational unit will also be formed at RAF Coningsby, to be followed by RAF Leeming and RAF Leuchars, where the Tornado F3 is currently flown. Altogether the RAF will receive 55 aircraft from the initial production batch, Tranche 1.

The German Air Force has to date ordered one IPA (to be delivered in November 2001) and 43 operational aircraft. These will start arriving in August 2002 and will initially be based in Manching, where four experienced pilots will be trained as instructors. From April 2003 these four instructors will then train additional flying instructors at Fighter Squadron 73 in Laage, near Rostock. Conversion training of combat pilots (43 flights / 56 hours) will commence in July 2004, so that by the autumn of 2005 there will be around 50 trained pilots available.

At a scheduled delivery rate of 15 Eurofighters per annum, Fighter Wing (JG) 74 "Mölders" should become operational in 2005, JG71 "Richthofen" in 2007 and JG72 "Westfalen" in 2009.

Italy too is planning to leave training in the first 18 months in the hands of manufacturer Alenia in Caselle, near Turin. The first Eurofighter operational base will then be Grosseto, followed by Trapani and Gioia del Colle. The Italian Air Force will receive 29 Tranche 1 aircraft, including one IPA.

Spain is initially purchasing 20 aircraft, including one IPA. Once again training, which is to commence in September 2002, will initially take place on the premises of the manufacturer, EADS (formerly CASA), in Getafe. The two Spanish Eurofighter bases are to be Moron and Albacete.

It should be borne in mind that under these plans, the first aircraft will only be to initial operational capability standard, and therefore will not be suited for much more than basic combat training. Full operational clearance (FOC) is expected to be achieved at the end of 2003, following which systems such as the electronic warfare Defensive Aids Subsystem (DASS) and direct voice input can then be installed. This will enable AMRAAM medium range air-to-air missiles to be added.

Another milestone will occur in 2005 when sensor co-ordination is improved, the pilot gets a helmet-mounted display, the FLIR is installed and further weapons are approved. The Eurofighter should then be in a position to carry out effective air-to-ground operations and will have at its disposal the swing-role capabilities which have been advocated in some of the partner countries, i.e. the ability to switch from the air-to-air role to the air-to-ground role and vice versa within a single sortie.

In the view of the manufacturers the enhancements required to the Eurofighter over its service life should be implemented on an ongoing basis rather than in modification blocks, as has been the practice in the past. Moreover, since the four partner countries do not have identical operational priorities or armaments (e.g. no less than three air-to-air short-range guided missiles will be deployed), it is essential to have an efficient management system to keep track of the equipment configuration of each individual aircraft.

An initial proposal was rejected by the four nations as too expensive, and Eurofighter now has until November to come up with a new logistics support proposal. The plan is to have a central International Weapons System Support System (IWSSS) and national support centres which will be staffed by a mixture of military personnel and employees of the manufacturers.

As regards maintenance and spare parts procurement, Germany plans to implement a logical two-tier maintenance system. The German Air Force's responsibilities will be confined to routine work on the aircraft, system testing and replacement of equipment as necessary. These items will then be sent to industry for repairs in return for a functioning part. It is planned to employ co-operative models for maintenance of the engines and airframes, with German Air Force personnel deployed at the manufacturer's plants to keep up-to-date with the technical side.

This is absolutely essential since over the next few years decisions must be made as to the configuration of the 236 aircraft in Tranche 2 which are to commence delivery in 2005. For this second batch and especially for the third batch of Eurofighters planned from 2010 the manufacturers have put forward a whole series of suggested enhancements. These range from installation of a thrust-vectoring nozzle through new computers to a radar with active electronic beam scanning, dorsal-mounted auxiliary tanks and Eurojet EJ200 engines with more thrust.

Which of these options are implemented will be determined by the defence budgets of the individual nations. In any case it is clear that the Eurofighter has considerable growth potential and will undergo a number of enhancements over the next decades.

From page 66 of FLUG REVUE 10/2000

Test programme to 2003

While Eurofighter production is now in full swing, testing is far from complete. Following signing of the production contract in 1998, some changes were also made to the development programme, which has been extended to 2003, supposedly without significant additional cost.

The seven Development Aircraft (DA) have in the meantime completed over 1,300 test flights. In recent months, however, flying activity has dropped off somewhat as many of the aircraft are undergoing scheduled re-equipment in order to update their aircraft systems to the latest configuration status. More reliable equipment and a better stock of spare parts should then enable a higher level of flying hours to be continuously sustained.

This will in fact be essential since, although no significant surprises are expected, testing of the various systems and their complex interaction under all conceivable conditions is extremely time-consuming. Attempts are being made to reduce the number of test flights from the 4,725 originally envisaged through more efficient testing, but over the next three years over 3,000 test flights are still likely to remain on the schedule - no mean load on the seven prototypes and five IPAs.

Major milestones over the next few months include the start of AMRAAM missile firing trials and testing of the Mauser cannon. The aircraft has recently flown with flight control software (FCS) standard 2B/2, avionics software (AVS) 3B-1 and utility control software (UCS) 3B/3. The next versions of the software, which will be to IOC standard, are expected to receive clearance in December/January. KS

Export opportunities

Although Eurofighter is not yet in service, interest among potential export customers is surprisingly high. Eurofighter International (EFI), which was founded specifically to market the fighter internationally, is therefore confident that it will be able to sell 400 aircraft worth over DM110 billion ($50 billion). However, these sales now seem likely to be spread over thirty years rather than twenty as originally thought.

The first customer outside of the partner countries is Greece, which is expected to sign up for 60 aircraft (plus 30 options) in the autumn of this year. In Norway, where the company believed it was in a strong position compared with the F-16, the call for tenders has now been placed on ice. Meanwhile a proposal for 40 aircraft was submitted to South Korea on 28 June. However, the political pressure from the US for an American rival to win the order may be expected to be considerable.

In Europe EFI is turning its attention to the Netherlands, which is looking into the options available for a procurement from 2010. This may be a long way off, but a policy decision is likely to be made at the start of 2001. Here Eurofighter's objective is to prevent the Dutch continuing participation in the American JSF programme as it enters the EMD phase. KS