Active Service Beckons for the Eurofighter

After almost two decades in the making, the much-maligned Eurofighter took to the air once more on Monday in a ceremony that marked an important milestone in the aircraft’s development.

The ceremony, held at the British Aerospace Systems base at Warton in the north of England, commemorated the completion of a series of important milestones in the project and was designed to pave the way for the aircraft’s first active service role with Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF).

With embarrassing delays, soaring costs and myriad technical problems relegated to the past, the aircraft, designed and built in a joint project between Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain, hopes to prove that the hype and expense involved in its creation has not been misplaced.

The world's most advanced fighter?

The Eurofighter, renamed the Typhoon for the export market, will be forced to justify its tag as the world's most advanced fighter aircraft when it finally takes off in active service. The manufacturers, a consortium of companies from Britain and Germany, with support from smaller Italian and Spanish firms, say only the American F-22 will be superior when it becomes available in 2010, at twice the price of the Eurofighter.

Expectations are high that the Eurofighter will revolutionize the capabilities of European air forces and make European defense companies a viable option in the face of American dominance in the market place.

Despite being the culmination of plans that first saw the light of day in 1983, the state-of-the-art on-board computers and radar, direct-voice input system for the pilot and the infra-red search and tracking system are considered by many to be among the most advanced in the world.

Soaring over the competition

Supporters of the project claim the technology behind the Eurofighter has given the highly agile multi-role aircraft many advantages over its current rivals. The versatile Typhoon model has been designed with both ground-attack and air defense operations in mind, giving it a range of combat possibilities. Its unique "delta canard" design shape, made up mostly of Carbon Fiber Composites (CFCs), lightweight alloys, titanium and Glass Reinforced Plastics (GRP), allows the plane to reach a top speed of twice the speed of sound.

Capable of both subsonic and supersonic sustained turning, the manufacturers claim that the Eurofighter’s close combat maneuverability will make it a difficult opponent in high-speed, modern air warfare. With stealth technology incorporated in the basic design to avoid detection by enemy radar, the Eurofighter can also be used in surprise attacks.

Outdated Cold War relic?

However, critics have said that the plane, first designed long before the end of the Cold War, is out of touch in a world full of new military realities. This has led some aviation analysts to suggest the technology will be outdated by the time the plane actually goes into service.

It is true that the development of the Eurofighter has been a long and expensive road. The project has been beset by a number of problems since its inception, with critics attacking it for running over budget, underperforming and taking too long to develop. Critics accuse the plane of underperforming in trials, with technical problems blamed for missed production and performance targets and deadlines as well as the crash of a test flight in Spain last November.

There have also been funding difficulties, too. Germany's Finance and Defense Ministries were at loggerheads for years over how to pay for the aircraft. With the U.K. and Germany responsible for most of the construction, 37 percent and 30 percent respectively, and Italy and Spain accounting for 19 percent and 14 percent, disputes between the partner countries over cost have been long and laborious. The most damaging row, which delayed securing money to move to full production, was resolved only in late 1997.

Delays and escalating costs

Money problems have not been exclusive to the production process. With the cost of the aircraft’s development escalating over the two decades since its inception, the price of the entire project is thought to be in the region of €50 billion. In comparison, Europe's largest industrial project, the Channel Tunnel, cost a mere €18.3 billion ($21 billion) to build.

Britain’s RAF, likely to be the first air force to give the aircraft an active role in its operations, has seen the cost of its order almost double since 1983. The bill for the RAF’s order of 232 Typhoon fighters, intended as replacements of its Tornado F3 and Jaguar jets, has risen over the years from £7 billion (€10 billion) to £15.9 billion (€22.9 billion). Owing to the inflated price, sources at the Ministry of Defense have been quoted as saying the RAF may slash its order to 150 planes.

Order prices almost double since inception

With each aircraft costing almost €98.7 million, Germany can also expect a substantial bill for the 180 aircraft currently on order for the Luftwaffe at a time when the Ministry of Defense is considering cuts. Both Italy and Spain are likely to pay between €7 billion and €10 billion for their fleets. Greece, Norway, Austria and The Netherlands have also shown interest in the fighter, despite its hefty price tag.

If the critics are proved right and the years of delay have made the Eurofighter obsolete before it even takes off, then it will be an expensive layout on what could be the European defense industry’s own white elephant. But if the Eurofighter turns out to be all that is hoped, then in time it may be seen as a good bit of business.