First Flight of Eurofighter Typhoon IPA6
01/11/2007 17:15
PR Newswire
HALLBERGMOOS, Germany, November 1 /PRNewswire/ --
- Tranche 2 Avionics Now in Flight Test
The first Eurofighter Typhoon loaded with Tranche 2 avionics took to the
air today at BAE Systems' Warton facility. Instrumented Production Aircraft
Six (IPA6) completed its maiden flight under the control of Mark Bowman,
Eurofighter Typhoon test pilot at BAE Systems.
IPA6 at Warton will be used for Tranche 2 flight test. It's first
prominent task will be to accomplish Type Acceptance for Block 8, the first
capability standard of the second Tranche Eurofighter Typhoon, in April 2008.
While IPA6 (BS031) is essentially a Tranche 1 standard aircraft, it uses
the full Tranche 2 mission computer suite and avionics features. IPA7 (GS029)
is the first aircraft that represents the full Tranche 2 build standard. The
first flight of IPA7 is expected before the end of 2007 at the Manching site
of EADS, Germany.
The first Tranche 2 EJ200 engine had already flown on IPA2 in Italy on
14 September. This test aircraft, operated by Alenia, will undertake the
necessary evaluation and certification work for this new EJ200 version.
The significant Tranche 2 features focus mainly on the new mission
computers which deliver the higher processing and memory capacity required
for the integration of future weapons such as Meteor, Storm Shadow and
Taurus. Differences in the build standard to Tranche 1 are related to changes
in production technology or obsolescence.
The Eurofighter consortium will deliver 251 aircraft, 91 to the United
Kingdom, 79 to Germany (including 15 aircraft originally contracted by
Austria), 47 to Italy and 34 to Spain. The original Tranche 2 production
contract was signed 14 December 2004. Deliveries of Tranche 2 Eurofighter
Typhoons to all four Partner Nations will begin in Summer 2008 and are
scheduled to run until 2013. 18 aircraft are already in final assembly at
the partner companies Alenia Aeronautica, BAE Systems, EADS CASA and EADS
Deutschland.
For more information contact:
Wolfdietrich Hoeveler,
Vice President Communication,
Eurofighter GmbH,
+49-811-801-555 (Office),
+49-172-832-9751 (Mobile),
wolfdietrich.hoeveler@eurofighter.com
Phillip Lee,
External Communications,
Eurofighter GmbH,
+49-811-801-587,
phillip.lee@eurofighter.com
Wolfdietrich Hoeveler, Vice President Communication, Eurofighter GmbH, +49-811-801-555 (Office), +49-172-832-9751 (Mobile), wolfdietrich.hoeveler@eurofighter.com; Phillip Lee, External Communications, Eurofighter GmbH, +49-811-801-587, phillip.lee@eurofighter.com