Tag Archives: Eurofighter Typhoon

£317m contract awarded to develop next generation radar for the Royal Air Force Typhoon

BAE Systems and Leonardo have been awarded a contract to develop the Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA), the European Common Radar System Mark 2(ECRS Mk2) radar, to a standard ready to be integrated on to RAF Typhoons.
It will sustain more than 600 highly skilled jobs across the country, including more than 300 at Leonardo’s site in Edinburgh, over 100 electronic warfare specialists at the company’s site in Luton, and 120 engineers at BAE Systems’ site in Lancashire.

The ECRS2 is a multi-functional array (MFA) that will give UK Typhoons a world-leading Electronic Warfare capability, in addition to traditional radar functions, including wide band Electronic Attack. It will equip RAF pilots with the ability to locate, identify and suppress enemy air defences using high-powered jamming. They can engage targets whilst beyond the reach of threats – even when they’re looking in another direction – and operate inside the range of opposing air defences, remaining fully protected throughout. This game-changing capability will replace the mechanically-scanning radar that RAF Typhoons are currently equipped with and will ensure the UK retains the freedom to deliver air power wherever and whenever it is needed. It also enables the Typhoons to link up with future data-driven weapons to combat rapidly evolving air defences, ensuring that UK Typhoons can continue to dominate the battlespace for years to come. 

A £317m contract to develop the next generation of radar for the Royal Air Force’s (RAF) Eurofighter Typhoons, will sustain hundreds of jobs and develop technologies for the UK’s Future Combat Air System. BAE Systems and Leonardo have been awarded a contract to develop the Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) the European Common Radar System Mark 2(ECRS Mk2), radar to a standard ready to be integrated on to RAF Typhoons. It will sustain more than 600 highly skilled jobs across the country, including more than 300 at Leonardo’s site in Edinburgh, over 100 electronic warfare specialists at the company’s site in Luton, and 120 engineers at BAE Systems’ site in Lancashire. Image: A computer generated image of a Eurofighter Typhoon equipped with Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) the European Common Radar System Mark 2(ECRS Mk2).
Andrea Thompson, Managing Director Europe & International for BAE Systems’ Air sector, said:

“This capability will allow Typhoon to take its place in the future battlespace for decades to come, maturing key technologies for future combat air systems and ensuring interoperability. As well as securing highly skilled jobs, it will sustain the key skills needed to keep the UK at the forefront of the global Combat Air sector. We look forward to continuing to work alongside the Eurofighter nations and our industry partners to ensure Typhoon delivers the needs of today and answers the challenges of tomorrow.”

Mark Hamilton, Senior Vice-President Electronic Warfare, Leonardo, said:

“This contract is great news for the UK, which will get the world’s most capable fighter radar, and great news for British engineering. Inventing, developing and building advanced technology here in the UK allows us to understand and meet the specific requirements of our Armed Forces and to secure export orders all around the world, boosting the whole UK economy.” The new radar will be based on Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) technology and will provide game-changing capabilities based on a revolutionary MFA. It has significantly more Transmit-Receive Elements than other radars, making Mk2 the most capable fighter AESA radar in the world, maintaining the same power and precision of traditional radars but also enabling the simultaneous operation of its wide-band Electronic Warfare functionality. BAE Systems, the UK’s prime contractor for the Typhoon, will integrate the new sensor which will be developed by Leonardo, the UK’s defence electronics champion.

Both companies are currently working as part of a four-nation development programme alongside Eurofighter consortium partners in Germany, Spain and Italy on a baseline version of the AESA radar. The ECRS Mk2 is a completely new approach designed to meet the operational needs of the RAF and future export customers. The UK’s commitment follows a similar commitment from Germany and Spain to deliver their own national requirements for an AESA radar.

Exercise Cobra Warrior 2019

Exercise Cobra Warrior 2019
By Vincent Hopper

Beginning on the 2nd September from RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire, Exercise Cobra Warrior 2019 see’s participants from the Italian, German and Israeli air forces. Eurofighter Typhoon 2000s from Italy and Germany have been joined by Israeli Air Force F-15 C & D variants from 106 Spearhead Squadron.
The exercise is joined RAF and USAF airforces operating out of their respective UK bases. Along with support aircraft the exercise includes as many as 50 aircraft.
The purpose of Cobra Warrior 2019 is to train and qualify weapons instructors in tactical environments.
With most flying taking part on Monday, Wednesday and Friday’s and with two sorties a day it is drawing large crowds of enthusiasts from the UK and Europe.
These photographs were taken on Wednesday 11th September and the exercise will run through to 20th September 2019

The Exercise Director, Group Captain Robert Barrett said: “The RAF welcomes the participation of our Air Force colleagues from other nations and we welcome the opportunity to train alongside all of the participating nations’ forces on this challenging exercise.

Cobra Warrior offers us the opportunity to complete training within the Mission Employment Phase for our future Weapons Instructors. The level of training combined with the variety of training partners help achieve the required standards within the Weapons School Criteria.
Lieutenant Colonel Dirk Pingel
The head of Weapons Instructor Training for the German Air Force

Italian C130 Hercules taking off at RAF Waddington Credit RAF

We are honoured to participate again in this very demanding and well organised international exercise. It will be a chance to fly with a selection of the best Weapon Instructors of the participating countries. Sharing our experiences will mutually increase our capabilities.”
Colonel Urbano Floreani
The 4th Wing Commander, from the Italian Air Force

Warbirds Over Swartkop 2019

Warbirds Over Swartkop 2019

By Dian Townsend

This year’s annual Warbirds Over Swartkop was held at Air Force Base Swartkop. The event span two days with Saturday being the busier of the two. On Saturday we saw Warbirds like the P40 Warhawk, Corsair, Bell UH-1, Eurofighter Typhoon, T-6 Harvard, Pilatus PC-21 and many more. The day had very little breaks in flight and continued until about 16h00. Sunday was much quieter with only about 10 aircraft flying, but the pilots made sure to impress none the less.

Saturday was certainly a good day for the spectators with the Viper Jet, Eurofighter Typhoon and Pilatus PC-21 being the biggest crowd pleasers. Later in the afternoon the two T-6 Harvards joined forces to put on a good aerobatic formation display. Sunday started with the sound of a second Viper Jet firing up it’s engine, followed by a couple  more jets and some smaller aircraft. Arguably the main event for the day, the Extra 300 display. Exhilarating knife edge flybys, inverted passes and  very low hovers.

This event made for a great family outing. The Windsock Café was open for lunch on Saturday, once again serving tasty sandwiches at a very reasonable price and there were two pavilions right on the crowd line providing a good seating spot. Spectators are also allowed onto the actual apron/ taxiway. Something you don’t normally see at airshows. It is recommended that small children are always accompanied by an adult as there were some pretty expensive aircraft in attendance and there is no barrier dividing the apron and runway.

This event was a first for me, but definitely not a last. Photographing these small aircraft is no easy feat, but serves as great practice for bigger airshows. It was awesome talking to many more of the people in our wonderful aviation community here in South Africa. The pilots are very passionate about their aircraft and love talking to the younger crowd and showing them around their aircraft.

This weekend was a great success for the organisers and pilots who attended. There was no dull moment with talented pilots flying their hearts out and even the occasional spill on landing or take off.  There was a wide spread of aircraft ranging from jets to warbirds, aerobatic planes and even a couple of helicopters. This event has once again proven to be one for the 2020 calendar and we look forward to seeing what next year’s Warbirds Over Swartkop has in store for us!

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