Eurofighter Typhoon - Nothing stands in its way.

Various Sources ^ | 07/27/2002

[TigerLikesRooster]

Re #1

Are you the same person as the one-time 4-year old French rap singer ? How old are you now ?

[DB]

Are these the same Europeans that built the world's leading French aircraft carrier?

[Jordi]

[Jordi]

Are you the same person as the one-time 4-year old French rap singer ? How old are you now ?

I'm a bit older. Anyway, Jordì was much cooler than eminem

[spokeshave]

I hope its guns work a bit better than those issued to the British marines.

[Jordi]

[Jordi]

I hope too.

[11B3]

This is the same fighter that even the MoD wants out of - it's a late third generation fighter that is 15 years behind schedule, way over budget, and basically just typically European. Doesn't even compare to an old MiG-29, or SAAB Griffen.

Easily digested snack for an F-15, F-16, SU-27, SU-30, much less an F-22 which is fifth generation. Euro yawn. The military gap continues to widen at an alrming rate between the US and NATO.

[struggle]

jordi rocked... btw....

http://www.canit.se/~griffon/aviation/img/saab/gripen/gall97/gripen-probe.jpg

looks the same to me... are you guys sure this isnt just a 2002 saab?

(all quiet on storm mountain)

[Jordi]

..."That will get you a plane that Eurofighter test pilot Christian Worning praises as "miles ahead of anything we've seen." It's fast, with a top speed of Mach 2. It's highly computerized, making it not only easy for pilots to fly but also adaptable to new technology. And it's versatile, geared primarily for air-to-air combat but with air-to-ground attacking ability. Some critics, though, say the Typhoon is designed for the wrong kind of warfare. "It's state-of-the-art. So what?" says Susan Willett, a defense analyst at the U.N. Institute for Disarmament Researce"....

The gap that is no more...

"The Eurofighter isn't just about building and selling jets. It's also a matter of pride. "It's not because we don't like Americans," says Worning, the test pilot. "We want to be equal." "

[DB]

Hype until proven in battle.

[section9]

If I wasn't so jaundiced about our own fighters, I would warn everyone about aircraft designed by committee.

This thing would probably come in second-best in a pissing contest with a Sabre Jet.

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[GBA]

""It's not because we don't like Americans," says Worning, the test pilot. "We want to be equal.""

As a place to start, Worning should worry a lot more about being better than the Russians. The Euro-fighter looks a lot more like Su-27 Euro-chow.

[wretchard]

There is no comparison betweent the Raptor and the Eurofighter. They are two different generations of aircraft. The F-22 is designed to fight within the context of a larger information matrix. The individual aircraft are hooked up to a grid, allowing them to see beyond the range of their own sensors and to fight cooperatively. Raptors are low-observable, supersonically persistent aircraft equipped with supercomputers, able to destroy the enemy before he sees them. In this respect, a group of F-22s resembles a wolfpack of invisible, superfast and telepathic U-boats more than the traditional fighter aircraft.

Since the Europeans don't have a combat information grid, linked by control towers in space, within which to fight their air battle, they have opted for a good traditional aircraft. They have no alternative. A group of Eurofighters represents the latest version of the Dawn Patrol. Good, if that's what you want. A more serious problem with the Eurofighter is it's lack of attack capability. It is not a multi-role aircraft. When the British retire their Tornados, the strike load will have to be carried by the F-35 or Joint Strike Fighter, which the Royal Navy is purchasing from the USA.

All in all, the Eurofighter Typhoon is everything you would have wanted in a fighter twenty years ago.

[tonycavanagh]

re : Worning should worry a lot more about being better than the Russians.

Yeh especially if the Russion pilot in question is pissed of because of the crap tip he got the night before while mini cabbing (Taxi for my yank chums).Tony

[spetznaz]

This is the same fighter that even the MoD wants out of - it's a late third generation fighter that is 15 years behind schedule, way over budget, and basically just typically European. Doesn't even compare to an old MiG-29, or SAAB Griffen. Easily digested snack for an F-15, F-16, SU-27, SU-30, much less an F-22 which is fifth generation. Euro yawn. The military gap continues to widen at an alrming rate between the US and NATO.

I would not knock the Eurofighter that much. That is not to say i am not slightly critical of the Eurofighter ...however i still think it is a great aircraft and can still kick major @$$!

After all when you think of it we are rapidly reaching the performance canopy of manned fighters. Jets can only be so maneuvrable, not because of their stuctural airframes but because human pilots can only stomach so much Gs before blacking out (i think the standard maximum is 9 Gs, and even that can be too high for many). Thus the new direction has to be stealth, advanced electronics and superior weapons. In essence the aircraft (manned aircraft) will become flying platforms for 'uber' weaponry.

In that respect the Eurofighter performs its task. It is stealthy (although not a F-22 Raptor), has some of the most advanced avionics in the world, is fast, can supercruise, is highly maneuvrable (due to its aerodynamic instability) and most of all is capable of carrying a rich assortment of weapons that can strike enemy targets(the upcoming meteor and current AMRAAM) and positions (the standoff missiles) from a long distance away. That is key.

And think of it ....the British will most probably not be facing USAF F-22s. They will not be facing Russian Stealth MIG-Mapo 1.42 and stealth Berkuts (that is if the Russians manage to scrape up enough funds to take these excellent demonstration prototypes into mass production). They will not even be facing the French Rafale fighter or the Swedish (and South African now) Gripen Multi-role fighter. These are not the targets for the Typhoon Eurofighter (unless the current world setup undergoes huge upheavals in the coming decades).

Its targets are ancient Soviet era aircraft owned by countries like Iraq and other rogue nations. Or modern aircraft like the Mig-29s owned by Iraq, but lacking advanced combat suites (most of the planes sold by Russia to foreign nations, apart from India it seems, have been 'dumbed' down with lessened capabilities .....which is the same thing we do to foreign nations we sell jets to, with the exception of Israel obviously. For example the F-16s we sold to Pakistan some years ago are so 'dumbed' down they can only fire infra-red Aim-9 SideWinders and have no BVR capability). Thus the Typhoon is way advanced for any threat it should encounter under 'orthodox' circumstances.

And it is not such an easy 'snack' for 'F-15s, F-16s, SU-27s' etc. I think it would give an F-15 C a fight worth watching ...and probably even win (unless it is one of those 'souped up' Israeli F-15s). As for the Sukhoi i would also put my money on the Typhoon to win, especially if the Flanker is foreign (that is not flown by a Russian pilot but by a Chinese). The reason i say this is that the Chinese have been crashing Flankers like crazy, meaning unlike their Russian counterparts chinese pilots are best at converting advanced jet fighters (like the Flanker) into lawn darts! However if it was a RUSSIAN FLOWN Su-37 Super-Flanker/Terminator then i would bet on both sides since it would be 50/50, but again the Su-37 Terminator is not in mass production but a demonstration fighter. If it was against the Russian stealth Mig-Mapo 1.42 or the Stealth Berkut fighters i would say they would probably shoot the Eurofighter long before it knew what hit it ...but again these aircraft are not under mass production ( i think there are like 3 of each). When it comes to the USAF/USN Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) it would probably depend on pilot skill. As for the USAF F-22 i would obviously put my money on the Raptor ...it is more advanced, and i would say more advanced by a considerable margin. But that does not implicitly make the Typhoon inferior. Not by a long shot.

However if i had the powers of a genie i would pit a Eurofighter Typhoon in a pitched 3-way battle with a French Rafale and a Swedish Grippen and see which would come out on top. Obviously all three would have pilots that could maximize the performance envelops of their respective aircraft. The reason for this is that they all seem to be more or less the same (with some sporadic differences here and there).

Actually take a look at their respective pictures. The first pic is of a Eurofighter Typhoon; the second is of a Swedish Grippen; and the third is the French Rafale fighter.

Typhoon:

Grippen:

Rafale:

To me they look a little too similar (although there are several observable differences they still look very similar).

However in my book the big boys are as follows:

The USAF f-22 Raptor:

And the Russian Berkut (which sadly ..or maybe luckily ....is not in mass production):

[spetznaz]

In my post above do not confuse the SU-27 Flanker with the demonstration SU-37 SuperFlanker/Terminator and the experimental S-37 Berkut stealth fighter. In the past people have thought when i say one i meant the other.

[TomB]

Rapahel: Armee De L'Air

Don't tell me. It's french for "I'm unarmed, don't shoot me."