Starting this week the Eurofighter Typhoon takea over the protection of Austrian airspace, the latest in a string of developments that have the manufacturing consortium “more than satisfied” about its weapon system’s flexibility and prospects, Eurofighter executives said.
“The fact that Austrian Eurofighter Typhoons have, after an internationally comparably short preparation time, reached the stage where they are ready to take on their mission spectrum, speaks volumes for the training and dedication of the air and ground crews assigned to the weapon system,” Aloysius Rauen, CEO Eurofighter GmbH, said. “This achievement deserves full recognition and I would like to therefore congratulate the Austrian Air Force.”
Typhoon is made by a team of companies including Britain’s BAE Systems, Italy’s Finmeccanica Alenia Aeronautica subsidiary and European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS) units in Germany and Spain.
In 2003 Austria was Typhoon’s first export customer. On July 12, 2007, it accepted the first of the 15 aircraft into the Air Surveillance squadron at Zeltweg, Steiermark.
In just 11 months since then, fully armed Eurofighter Typhoons recently patrolled the skies over the Austrian host stadiums during the Euro2008 football championships, securing the airspace together with other aircraft types and ground-based support, Eurofighter said.
Deliveries of the first 15 aircraft will continue into 2009.
Austria’s achievement underlines the platform’s flexibility, Eurofighter said. “Typhoon was developed to be able to take on a range of missions for the lowest operational costs,” the company said in a statement.
Since early June, Fighter Wing 74 of the German air force has placed Typhoon on NATO Quick Reaction Alert duties for Southern Germany, from their Main Operating Base in Neuburg/Donau, Eurofighter said. Italy and the United Kingdom have had Typhoon aircraft assigned to QRA operations since 2005 and 2007 respectively, it added.
In May and June, the Royal Air Force XI Squadron participated in Exercise Green Flag in the United States, “resulting in the declaration that Eurofighter Typhoon is, following the integration of the Litening III laser designator pod, mission ready for multi-role air-to-surface operations,” Eurofighter said. “Two sorties per day with the release of up to six laser-guided Enhanced Paveway II bombs per aircraft has proven Eurofighter Typhoon’s swing-role capability,” it added.
Since Entry-into-Service in Spring 2004, 147 Typhoons have been delivered to ten units across five air forces.
A total of 707 weapon systems have been ordered by six nations following the 72 on order for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with deliveries due to begin in 2009.