Italy looks to buy additional Eurofighter Typhoons
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| Italian Air Force F-2000A Typhoon. |
The Italian Air Force appears close to purchasing a new tranche of Eurofighter Typhoon multi-role fighters. The news was released today by the Janes portal which reported Mike Baulkwill, Combat Air Strategy director at BAE Systems, as its source.
This new acquisition program is believed to be submitted to the Italian government by next summer to speed up approval. With this order it is assumed that the Italian Air Force aims to replace the 28 aircraft belonging to Tranche 1 which have lower capabilities than those of Tranche 2 and Tranche 3A.
The new Eurofighters, whose number should be around 24 units, should be similar to those of Tranche 4+ or 5 foreseen by Spain's Halcon II programme.
Tranche 4+ mainly features the addition of the European Common Radar System Mark 1 (ECRS Mk1/Radar 1) active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, while Tranche 5 takes this AESA radar and adds elements of the Long Term Evolution (LTE) package.
The LTE plan includes enhancements to the aircraft's Eurojet EJ200 powerplant, new mission system architecture, improved defensive aids, a touchscreen large-area display cockpit, new adaptive power, and cooling techniques to facilitate the integration of advanced weapons, greater connectivity, as well as structural changes to improve the aircraft's aerodynamics and manoeuvrability.
This new acquisition program is believed to be submitted to the Italian government by next summer to speed up approval. With this order it is assumed that the Italian Air Force aims to replace the 28 aircraft belonging to Tranche 1 which have lower capabilities than those of Tranche 2 and Tranche 3A.
The new Eurofighters, whose number should be around 24 units, should be similar to those of Tranche 4+ or 5 foreseen by Spain's Halcon II programme.
Tranche 4+ mainly features the addition of the European Common Radar System Mark 1 (ECRS Mk1/Radar 1) active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, while Tranche 5 takes this AESA radar and adds elements of the Long Term Evolution (LTE) package.
The LTE plan includes enhancements to the aircraft's Eurojet EJ200 powerplant, new mission system architecture, improved defensive aids, a touchscreen large-area display cockpit, new adaptive power, and cooling techniques to facilitate the integration of advanced weapons, greater connectivity, as well as structural changes to improve the aircraft's aerodynamics and manoeuvrability.
Written by Matteo Sanzani
Image: Italian Air Force
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