EF-2000 EFA Eurofighter Typhoon

[Orel]

Parece que RU podría estar negociando con A. Saudí el que ésta apoye económicamente a Jordania para adquirir Eurofighter (actualmente tienen 70 F-16 divididos en un puñado de Block15 ADF y el resto mezcla de MLUs de diversa procedencia):

Saudi Arabia, Jordan, RJAF and Eurofighter deal
Nov 12, 2012
Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Britain are said to be holding contacts about the possibility of the Saudis providing a financial support for Jordan to buy the Eurofighter Typhoon for the Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF).
http://www.tacticalreport.com/view_news ... _deal/3000

[Orel]

Lo siguiente es otro comentario más que saldrá en medios especializados sobre el comportamiento AA del Tifón frente a otros cazas: Se sigue confirmando una y otra vez que la comunidad de pilotos de Eurofighter no vé actualmente a ningún otro caza como una amenaza a la que les cueste enfrentarse, excepto al F-22. Como detalle, ninguno tiene la agilidad en vertical del Typhoon. Y a cazas con mayor capacidad a bajas alturas y velocidades no se les vé la ventaja ya que esas circunstancias son eliminadoras de energía (algo que siempre dije).

I've had a busy Autumn, Typhoon-wise, having spoken to lots of interesting people - including Luftwaffe aircrew and normally-behind-the-scenes Cassidian folk at Berlin (several of the Luftwaffe blokes had fought Rafale, which was interesting!), I met the new CO of the RSAF's second Typhoon unit at the International Fighter Conference, I chatted to Craig Penrice and Fabrice Granclaudon sitting side by side at that event (!), and I met an impressive young AMI Major (who had fought Rafale.....), and I've been speaking to the usual suspects in industry and the RAF.
[...]
As to recent Typhoon air-to-air combat/training, the overview seems to be that the Typhoon aircrew community do not currently seem to view any other aircraft as being a threat that is in any way too hard for them to handle - except perhaps the F-22. That's not to say that you don't have to fight threat aircraft in ways that play to your strengths and not their strengths (and that if you fail to do that you can of course come a cropper). Those aircraft with better low speed/high Alpha handling (and the F/A-18C/D is king of that hill) aren't seen as a particular threat, as none can exploit the vertical in the way that Typhoon, and since the ultra-low speed stuff kills energy and "just turns you into a strafe panel". There were some very interesting specific comments about particular aircraft, and I just know that the Rafale fans will hate them when they get to read them...
jon lake http://typhoon.starstreak.net/forum/vie ... f=1&t=2110

[champi]

Ya son 20 los escuadrones de Eurofighter: http://www.eurofighter.com/media/news0/ ... -base.html

Thursday, 15. November 2012

The 18th Gruppo based at Trapani Air Force Base (AFB) in Sicily, became the 20th Squadron operating Eurofighter Typhoon. Trapani was an Italian Main Air Base with two Air Defence Squadrons in previous years.

The Squadron recently acquired aircrews and aircraft from 4th and 36th Wings to support the Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) effort in Grosseto and Gioia del Colle. Recent Unified Protector operations showed the strategic importance of Sicily and Trapani as a valuable logistical and operational hub.
Trapani AFB also hosts the 82nd CSAR Squadron with the HH-3F helicopter and serves as a NATO Early Warning Forward Operating Base.

Enzo Casolini, CEO of Eurofighter, congratulated the 18th Gruppo and said: “We are very pleased that the Italian Air Force has achieved this milestone of 20th Eurofighter Squadron. Italy plays an important role in this international partnership with 24,000 employees working in Italy on this successful European combat aircraft which significantly contributes to the defence and security of this country.”

Since entry-into-service in 2004, more than 340 aircraft have been delivered to the six customer nations Italy, Spain, Germany, the UK, Austria and Saudi Arabia. In total, the whole Eurofighter fleet has achieved over 160,000 flying hours.

[MAC2]

Fantasias animadas de ayer y hoy presentan........ unas risas.

[ruso]

¿Han provado los de la USAF alguna vez los Tifones?.

Saludos.

[Orel]

¿Han provado los de la USAF alguna vez los Tifones?.

"Probado" es con "be", y luego le andas recordando a otros la ortografía

No han hecho una evaluación como tal pero algunos pilotos yanquis sí que han volado en Tifón biplaza por cortesía en ejercicios y visitas, como el ex-jefe de la USAF en 2005: http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123010102

[ruso]

me s'a ido el deo

[champi]

Buenas perspectivas desde Arabia: http://www.tacticalreport.com/view_news ... _deal/3012

Y menudo lío en Austria, con amenaza de cancelación incluída: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/ ... PS20121116

Al parecer existe una cláusula que les permite salirse en caso de soborno. De todas maneras, al consorcio Eurofighter ya no le deben nada, así que no se cómo se va a arreglar en caso de demostrar que hubo delito...

[Orel]

Y menudo lío en Austria, con amenaza de cancelación incluída:

Sí, con el lío de los posibles sobornos. La prensa internacional, especializada y no, especialmente la alemana y austríaca, no paran de poner noticias al respecto, pero sin nada nuevo. Hasta que no se resuelva la investigación y el juicio...

Un buen vídeo de un Tifón italiano exhibiéndose en India el año pasado, con tomas externas e internas:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5WLpgx ... re=related

Y unas fotos de Tifones italianos junto a Gripens húngaros:
http://www.mh59.hu/rovatok/hu/hirek/adt ... hoonokkal/







Chao

[Orel]

Arabia Saudí, que está encantada con el caza y sus posibilidades, se ha puesto a practicar con la capacidad AS de la Tranche 2 antes que los propios socios del programa. Eso ya lo sabíamos. El caso es que para poder seguir desarrollándola han pedido y recibido "de urgencia" una versión no definitiva de la P1E (llamada MR1, recuerdo que la aceptación operativa es entrado el año que viene) para empezar a aplicar a tope la multirolidad. Y el pod Damocles les llegará en nada.
Por cierto, que si tiran del misil AASM Hammer francés es porque los ingleses no les venden su Paveway IV por considerarlo armamento "sensible" (igual que tiran del pod Damocles porque el Litening es israelí). La Paveway IV pesa 500 lb, es de guía dual INS/GPS-Láser y ofrece un abanico enorme de posibilidades de configuración en pleno vuelo: dirección de ataque, ángulo de ataque, varios modos de detonación... vamos, como un misil moderno pero sin motor.

En la revista Combat Aircraft de enero de 2013 (sale este diciembre) habrá un artículo dedicado al desarrollo del Tifón a través de las mejoras P2EA, P2EB y P2EC (que vendrán tras las P1EA y P1EB). Al final no habrá una "P1EX". Después de ésas podría haber unas P3E, P4E, EP3 y EP4, pero ésas aún son sólo teóricas. Me la compraré.

Detalle:

Typhoon vs Rafale will have to wait for a bit, but is much less interesting than I used to think, as no Typhoon aircrew I've spoken to recently rate Rafale as being a particularly difficult opponent, and my three most recent Rafale pilot interviewees (all this month [november]) were pretty downbeat on that subject. It's a great jet though, and I've learned a bit more about future plans, so I will be writing about it at some point.
jon lake http://typhoon.starstreak.net/forum/vie ... 0&start=20

[champi]

Los sobornos en Austria podrían llegar, de confirmarse, a más de €50 millones: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/11/1 ... KM20121119

[Orel]

Sí, hay muchas noticias al respecto, como comenté. A ver qué sucede.

He estado preparando unas selecciones del extra "Typhoon: A year on the road" (2012) que puse hace unas semanas, dedicado al desempeño del Typhoon en Libia en 2011. Intento que sean cosas nuevas, no repetir lo ya puesto en el tema. Os aseguro que ese documento merece mucho la pena para ver cómo se trabaja con un caza moderno en un entorno de guerra moderno. No olvidéis que se trató de Tranche 1 con capacidad AS austera, los T2/3 con P1E lo harán muchísimo mejor aún.
Iba a dividir en dos el mensaje para no hacerlo tan largo, pero por qué retrasarlo. Leedlo por partes si hace falta

1) Detalle sobre operatividad y disponibilidad del Tifón (que ya sabemos fue muy elevada, de más del 95%):

Gp Capt Sampson spoke highly of what his team and Typhoon achieved in the first few days: “We operated with limited spares, limited test equipment, limited numbers of people, yet we were able to fly combat missions for four days unsupported, and that’s a great testament to the robustness and quality of Typhoon.”
In defining ‘unsupported’ Gp Capt Sampson explained the situation: “We didn’t have all of the equipment that we would normally use to generate sorties at Coningsby, because some 180 tonnes of spares, test and ground support equipment had yet to arrive at Gioia.” Full of praise for Typhoon, Sampson told AIR International: “The aeroplane held up fantastically, it was absolutely superb. Maintaining combat capability in relatively austere circumstances is a significant achievement for a modern aeroplane.”

Todos las misiones duraban como mínimo 6 horas debido a las distancias y se llegó a batir el récord de una misión de 9 horas y 45 minutos de duración:

“There was no single component [del Eurofighter] that caused a significant problem and the general serviceability of the aircraft significantly surprised me. I wasn’t expecting it to perform as well as it did – we could fly it for six hours, turn it, fly it for another six hours and it would land serviceable.”

2) Cuatro ejemplos de misiones en las que se muestra la flexibilidad del Tifón en tareas AS:

- Six weeks into the air campaign another mixed formation of two Tornados and two Typhoons carrying 18 weapons between them, struck targets that had been assigned to other aircraft, which were forced to remain on the ground because of maintenance issues. The RAF formation had originally planned to drop two bombs from each of the two Typhoons. With the potential for targets to remain unprosecuted, the Typhoons used Link 16 to receive the necessary updates and information from an AWACS. Using radio communications, the Typhoon pilots were able to pass information to their Tornado colleagues and re-plan a strike while airborne. Fourteen targets were then attacked simultaneously.
[...]
- One example of a pre-planned strike given by Wg Cdr Patounas involved three Tornado GR4s and a single Typhoon as part of a 30-ship COMAO strike package. Each Tornado carried five Paveway 4 precision guided bombs while the Typhoon carried four Enhanced Paveway 2 bombs. On the first pass, all 15 bombs carried by the Tornados and two from the Typhoon impacted the correct pre-planned targets within 30-seconds.
The Typhoon was the only aircraft carrying a pod, which was used to gain battle damage assessment (BDA). Two remaining targets were identified, which Wg Cdr Patounas was able to engage with the two remaining EPW2s on a second pass. “Within about four minutes we’d dropped 19 bombs and undertook a BDA on the whole site using goggles at night,” Wg Cdr Patounas said.

- On another mission, pilots saw flashes appear on the horizon. The suspected targets were easy to acquire using the Litening 3 pod located by a wood near to a town, and were identified as three artillery pieces set-up in a line. Initially the pilots had no idea whether the guns were in the hands of anti- or pro-Gaddafi men.
By looking at the location of the town, the position of the guns, and which direction they were firing, the first interpretation was foe. Shots were then seen landing in the town indicating that the artillery guns were shooting at civilians. “C2 was contacted to confirm that the area had not been retaken by friendly forces as often happened and that the guns were pro-Gaddafi. In that time the pilots had generated coordinates of each gun, decided the attack direction and how the bombs were going to fall.
The latter is imperative to understand in the event of a failure such that the bomb will still miss the target. In this case the nearby town. “Choosing the line of attack, the pilots then had to position such that each bomb arrived on its respective target at the same time. Two of the bombs were EPW2s dropped from a Typhoon and the third was a Paveway 4 released from a Tornado GR4.”
Wg Cdr Patounas was happy with the result of the strike saying: “That was all done in 17 minutes, from spotting it on the horizon, to delivering the weapons.”
[...]
- Sqn Ldr Bolton led the first ever Typhoon-only strike mission and a multi-aircraft COMAO at night against a target near Tripoli. Setting the scene Sqn Ldr Bolton told AIR International: “We were due to fly with some French Rafales, a Growler, and tankers from France and the UK. Very bad weather in Corsica meant the Rafales were unable to safely get airborne or recover to their base leaving us and the Growler to continue the mission.”
He added: “Not only did we get airborne and strike our own targets, we re-rolled whilst airborne and took out the targets assigned to the other aircraft also.”
Operating with a backup plan, both Typhoons were carrying sufficient weapons to strike additional targets to those they had been assigned.
According to Sqn Ldr Bolton, the weather on the way to the area of operations was atrocious, with thunderstorms making it a very dark night. “When you are refuelling and are told that no one else is coming, it’s just you, and you’re going to have to strike their targets as well, the night becomes even darker,” he said reflecting on the enormity of the situation.

3) Confirmando datos del radar Captor, entre otros su capacidad de solapar o entrelazar modos AA y AS dada su elevadísima tasa de escaneo y capacidad de proceso, algo que hasta entonces sólo era posible con antenas de barrido electrónico:

the ECR-90-C began flying on board Eurofighter development aircraft 5 (DA5) in February 1997. Even at this early stage, the trial-standard system proved capable of detecting fighter-sized targets at ranges of more than 160km (100 miles), with range accuracy within 10 metres (32 feet) and an angular accuracy of less than one milliradian (roughly 0.05°).
Although CAPTOR uses a mechanically steered antenna, it is revolutionary in concept, with four high-precision, high-torque, samarium-cobalt motors driving a low inertia non-counterbalanced antenna, which allows extremely high scanning speeds. As a result, the radar can interleave different operating modes, such as air and ground mapping, which is unusual for a system without an electronically scanned, phased array antenna.

Sobre alcance del radar Captor, de ejemplo real en Libia. Por su alcance y volumen de escaneo los aliados usaban el EFA-Captor como mini-AWACs:

Wg Cdr Patounas used the RAF Tornado GR4 as an example: “We’d get airborne about 20 minutes after the Tornados and put them up on our radar, typically 100 miles ahead.

4) Sobre las alturas de operación del Tifón: al ser multirol, es flexible (que hay quien se inventa que sólo vuela alto):

During the air defence phase of the campaign, Typhoons operated at altitudes of 30,000 to 40,000ft (9,100 to 12,000m). But in the multi-role phase, flying mixed formations with Tornado GR4s, the operating altitudes were 19,000 to 20,000ft (5,800 to 6,100m).

5) Sobre la capacidad de reconocimiento actual del Eurofighter con pod Litening 3 (ésa que, como su multirolidad desde diseño, le niegan los detractores recalcitrantes, ahora basándose únicamente en el resumen suizo). Recuerdo que el Rafale, si lleva instalado el pod Reco NG específico muy bien, pero por defecto su pod Damocles no le sirve para reconocimiento útil por no tener sensor TV y tener un sensor IR de escasa resolución. Y para otros cazas, otra pega es no tener ROVER. Detalle curioso: a veces los pilotos de EFA llevaban una tablet encima para tareas de reconocimiento:

is a high-end air-to-surface platform with phenomenal reconnaissance capability.
[...]
He also rated the performance of the Litening 3 pod to be excellent and confirmed its ability, saying: “It allowed us to collect high-quality reconnaissance imagery and BDA [battle damage assessment] of where we had been which allowed NATO to rebut any pro-regime evidence that we had bombed the wrong place.
“Importantly it gave us the resolution and the ability to look into one of the most confusing battle spaces ever seen. Litening allowed us to get in very close, at a safe altitude, and look for behaviour to see and prove which people were pro-Gadaffi forces.”
[...]
Like its Tornado playmate, Typhoon offered very good non-kinetic affect and combat ISTAR capability, which fed into the analysis systems used by the RAF’s Tactical Imagery Wing. Intelligence and battle damage assessment were provided by Typhoons throughout Operation Ellamy.
[...]
The RAF’s has also used the pod on deployed operations for ISTAR (intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance), not least since the UK’s version can record still imagery.
Its integration on Typhoon incorporates a ROVER 3 (remotely-operated videoenhanced receiver) air-to-surface secure full-motion video data link [...] ROVER also provides a limited real-time reconnaissance capability.
[...]
“During Ellamy we actually added another screen [a las de la cabina], a computer tablet that we lay on our legs. It’s GPS-equipped and uploads imagery of targets already hit in the area of operations.” This allowed the pilot to look at the latest imagery and check if the target had been hit before.

6) Sobre trabajar en su cabina, afirman que la fusión de datos (sensor fusion) y el MMI son geniales y que es muy cómoda a pesar de las misiones de 6 horas y más. Y que el Link-16 es la leche. El modo de operar normalmente era que en la pantalla izquierda tenían la presentación del radar vigilando el cielo, en la pantalla derecha tenían la imagen de superficie del pod Litening y en la pantalla central tenían el mapa táctico con toda la información del MIDS superpuesta.

7) Sobre shows-of-force aprovechando su capacidad supersónica sin perder tanta autonomía para hacerlo como los demás:

However, unlike Tornado, Typhoon was also able to provide additional non-kinetic capability by dropping supersonic booms over certain areas as a show of presence. In the words of one pilot, “just to keep people’s heads down.”
This proved to be an effective and safe option for the aircrew because the effect was gained at high level above the engagement zones of manpads and anti-aircraft artillery. “We did that frequently, said Wg Cdr Patounas. Not many other platforms have the excess power to do that without running out of fuel.”

8 ) Sobre ser un gestor de la batalla aérea y prestaciones del Tifón cargado (recordemos que el Tifón podía sobrevolar cargado tormentas que todos los demás tenían que rodear debido a no alcanzar tales techos operativos cargados, y que ningún otro podía ir con la carga que el Tifón (4 bombas de 500 kg, pod, 6 misiles, 2 depos) a su velocidad de crucero de casi 0.9 Mach):

“The first thing with Typhoon is performance. By which I mean engines and airframe,” he replied. “The ability to climb to 40,000ft plus without using reheat means you don’t have a fuel penalty to get to those heights. The fact that you can loiter at those heights means you can spend more time in the area
[...]
Describing the tactical advantages Sqn Ldr Bolton said of Typhoon’s performance capability: “We can put four 1,000 pound weapons on board, fuel tanks, air-to-air missiles and a Litening 3 pod, and still be able to manoeuvre the aircraft with carefree handling just because of the engines and the airframe. It’s just fantastic. Typhoon is a very, very easy aeroplane to fly.”
Such ease of flying allows the pilot to focus on being a battle space manager, monitoring the radar and other sensors for the best employment of weapons to achieve the best effect.
[...]
“The thing that Typhoon gives you, even when she’s carrying air-to-surface weapons, is that the performance still allows you to easily get high and fast enough, to launch a more robust shot that is much harder to defeat, so therefore more deadly.
The author asked Wg Cdr Wells if Typhoon suffers any detriment to performance in an air-to-air engagement when carrying up to four 1,000lb (454kg) bombs. “No, that’s one of the really great things about the jet. Even in a multi-role fit touting four AMRAAMs, two ASRAAMs, two under wing tanks, four 1,000lb-class weapons and a Litening pod, your performance on height and fuel burn isn’t hugely adversely affected.
She’s just easy to fly in that sort of heavy fit.
“When flying a legacy platform, much more of your capacity and focus would have been on purely flying the aircraft, as opposed to operating it, whereas with Typhoon you can just plug in the auto throttle, auto pilot if you need, depending on the phase of the mission, and she’ll just take all of your issues away.”

9) Ahora del ejercicio Bersama Lima 2011, en Malasia, detalles sobre operación en entornos de humedad extrema (90% y más) y correcciones:

“We had full dehumidification on the aircraft and were able to keep the aircraft at a controlled temperature the whole time. That was a huge advantage,” said Sqn Ldr Quick. The effect of excessive exposure to humidity on an aircraft with so many avionics and dependent systems is considerable. But the Typhoon has undergone design changes, such as surface protection, since the June 2004 deployment to Singapore which, of course, involved Tranche 1 aircraft.
Experience of the Tranche 1 aircraft included ingress of moisture into the cockpit, but No.6 Squadron’s Tranche 2 examples did not suffer that problem because of a modification to the canopy seal and improved de-humidification of the aircraft.

10) Detalle sobre el aguante de los EJ200:

“To be that successful with engines is completely unprecedented. One reason for that success is the EJ200’s incredible tolerance to FOD [foreign object damage or debris] ingestion.”

http://www.baesystems.com/download/BAES ... n-the-road

Estos días pondré selecciones de otros de los documentos que puse.
Un saludo

[Orel]

Hoy tocan selecciones del especial del año 2008 de Air International dedicado al desarrollo y servicio operativo del Tifón: http://es.scribd.com/doc/104158968/Lake ... Supplement

11) Sobre sus prestaciones comparadas con cazas anteriores (F-15, F-16, F-18, F-14, Mig-29). En concreto, afirma que el caza de referencia por excelencia es el F-15 y que el salto que dió del Lightning a él fue equivalente al que dió al pasar del F-15 al Tifón. Afirma que es difícil apreciar diferencias entre los cazas anteriormente citados, y sin embargo en cuanto vuelas en el Tifón notas la diferencia:




12) Sobre la cabina y el MMI, a pesar de ser algo subjetivo, también hay índices objetivos para valorarlo. Y según esos, el interfaz hombre-máquina del Tifón es el mejor de entre todos sus contemporáneos.
También se mide objetivamente por la cantidad de formación previa necesaria para dominar el MMI. Y en el caso del Tifón, basta tan sólo con 1 clase teórica muy básica y 3 sesiones de simulador para que el piloto esté más que cómodo en la cabina real.

Por cierto, es un error pensar que porque unas cabinas se parezcan, el MMI es igual (DVI, visor de casco y equipo de vuelo aparte). Como dice un piloto, comparar MMI por su apariencia externa (son 3 pantallas, etc) es como comparar dos bibliotecas por el tipo y color de las estanterías, y no por cómo están clasificados los libros, si están a mano o no... que es lo importante. Dos cabinas "semejantes" pueden tener (y suele ser así) MMI totalmente diferentes ya que depende de cómo estén diseñados los menús, de cómo estén diseñadas las presentaciones de datos, del automatismo a la hora de presentarlos, y muchas cosas más que no se "ven". Aparte de todo eso, el Typhoon es el primer caza del mundo con DVI y equipo anti-G completo:




13) Datos del radar Captor, para seguir confirmando: 70 cm de diámetro de antena, samarium cobalt servos... que permite entrelazar modos AA y AS, 120-140º de visión lateral (es decir, entre 240 y 280º de FoV), más de 160 km (86 MN) de alcance frente a cazas y hasta 300 km (162 MN) frente a transportes, puede seguir 20 blancos y atacar 6 simultáneamente.








14) Datos del IRST/FLIR Pirate: búsqueda, detección y seguimiento hasta 80 MN (150 km). Identificación a 19-22 MN (35-40 km).






15) Y sobre los dos sistemas de emergencia de vuelo del avión, el ALSR Automatic Low Speed Recovery (recuperación automática ante bajas velocidades) y el DRF Disorientation Recovery Facility (recuperación ante desorientación o "botón del pánico"), que nivela el avión y lo pone en suave ascensión y a entre 300-350 nudos (550-650 km/h):





Un saludo

[Orel]

Ya habíamos informado del intercambio hace tiempo, y ahora ha empezado: este lunes el piloto inglés de Typhoon ha iniciado su formación en el Rafale en Francia. Un piloto francés de Rafale irá a su vez volar operativamente el Typhoon a RU.

Un Britannique à l'ETR
22 novembre 2012
Le pilote britannique en échange en France sur Rafale a commencé ce lundi sa formation à l'escadron de transformation Rafale (ETR). Il rejoindra ensuite le 2/30 Normandie Niémen. Un Français doit de son côté débarquer sur Typhoon, à Leuchars.
Trois Britanniques sont actuellement sur des postes d'officiers d'échange dans l'armée de l'air.
http://lemamouth.blogspot.fr/2012/11/un ... -letr.html

[poliorcetes]

El esfuerzo económico de eso no es despreciable, y no acabo de verle sentido