Tranche 3 Typhoon makes its debut flight

The first Tranche 3 production example of the Eurofighter Typhoon performed its debut flight on 2 December, from BAE Systems’ Warton assembly site in Lancashire, the UK.

Flown by BAE test pilot Nat Makepeace, single-seat BS116 is one of 40 Tranche 3 aircraft that will be produced for the UK Royal Air Force, equipped with a series of enhancements over previous examples. Germany, Italy and Spain will receive a combined further 72 Eurofighters in the new standard.

“At the nose, a new internal structure has been built, and work has been carried out on power, cooling and electronics so that a new E-scan [active electronically scanned array] radar could be accommodated,” says Mark Kane, BAE’s managing ­director, combat air.

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