FLUG REVUE May 2002: Eurofighter in the production phase

EUROFIGHTER PRODUCTION AIRCRAFT COMPLETED

By Karl Schwarz

It is the same story at Alenia, BAE Systems and EADS: for the leading European aerospace companies the Eurofighter is the most important military programme. For this reason Aloysius Rauen, President EADS Military Aircraft, has been impressing on his workforce, “Our future depends on the Eurofighter. Every effort must be taken to stabilise the programme and satisfy our customers.”

This includes amongst other things delivering the first production aircraft on schedule. For example, according to the UK Ministry of Defence the Royal Air Force is expecting the Eurofighter in June. Again, the first production aircraft for deployment in the Luftwaffe squadrons “should be delivered in sufficient time to allow the first phase of training of service instructor pilots to take place at EADS in Manching between October 2002 and the end of March 2003.”

This could be very tight since, compared with the original announcements from the Eurofighter consortium, the first flights of the Instrumented Production Aircraft (IPA) have slipped by a good six months. IPA1 at BAE in Warton was supposed to have flown last August, while the Luftwaffe was expecting IPA3, for which EADS Manching is responsible, at the end of 2001.

At the time of going to press in the middle of March, the two aircraft were running neck and neck with IPA3, which is being assembled by Alenia in Turin. For example, the first engine test runs took place on 13 March. It was expected that all three aircraft would be airborne around Easter time.

The delay was nothing dramatic according to the information given out by Eurofighter. Instead, it was just a matter of the final touches on a number of details – an incorrectly laid cable here, a device that did not quite come up to specification there, leaks in the fuel pump somewhere else… Moreover, according to the official line, the company has taken its time so as to be sure that the aircraft were really complete and would be able to proceed immediately into an intensive test programme.

Nevertheless, the problems were evidently judged to be sufficiently serious that at the beginning of 2001 a special director was appointed, whose sole task was “to get IPA1, 2 and 3 into the air by the end of the year (2001), with a first flight as soon as possible”. Robert Smith had no illusions about his new job at the time: “We have a new aircraft. For the companies involved it is the first of its kind for some 20 years. So we should not be surprised if there are problems at the start of series production. The challenges are considerable. Our strength must therefore be teamwork, we must not waste any energy on petty disputes.”

In parallel to assembly of the first production aircraft in Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy and Spain, preparations are in full swing for a smooth entry into service with the air forces. Over the last few months a series of contracts have been concluded covering support, spare parts provisioning and training.

In Germany “co-operative models” are playing a central role. On 20 February the German BWB arms procurement agency signed contracts with EADS and MTU covering, respectively, the airframe and engine. These are intended to lead to savings of up to 20% on the initial support costs.

For the first time, most of the maintenance is to be carried out jointly by the Luftwaffe industry, once a weapons system has been commissioned. For example, work on the EJ200 engine is to be carried out exclusively at MTU, which is guaranteeing a maximum turnaround time of 25 days. EADS is building a system support centre (SSC) in Manching, in which from March 2003 the first Luftwaffe personnel and EADS employees will take up their new posts. These entail the provision of emergency telephone support and configuration control.

The SSC is part of the International Weapon System Support System (IWSSS) in Munich that is to co-ordinate product maintenance work in the partner nations. The arrangements for this are expected to be finalised in the summer under the “PC8” contract. Altogether there are eleven work packages covering Eurofighter support. One of them (PC5), for example, covers the provision of spare parts through to the end of 2005. The operators will be able to return defective parts to industry directly at the air base and receive spares in return immediately. The cost of the Industrial Exchange and Repair Service is around 765 million Euro.

Even if deliveries of the Eurofighter do get under way over the next few months, flight testing of the new fighter has by no means ended. According to the Federal Accounting Office, the fact that “the contractors… did not keep to planned and agreed deadlines” was the most obvious feature of the development phase. Even so, some 1,600 flying hours (over 1,900 flights) had been clocked up on the seven prototypes as of February this year. Over the last six months an average of 50 hours have been added per month.

Having undergone an equipment upgrade, all the development aircraft (DA) have been available recently. Provisioning with components, and hence the operational ready rate, has got a lot better, according to Eurofighter. Moreover, individual development aircraft are almost up to production standard from the equipment point of view. For example, DA1, 2 and 3 have been fitted with the latest flight control software, while DA4 has a very good avionics fit, including a Captor radar that meets the production specification.

DA4 will be used to demonstrate the complete weapons system and should shortly be carrying out the important first trials of the medium-range AMRAAM guided missile against airborne targets off the Scottish coast. Trials with the cannon are meanwhile taking place in Italy (Decimomannu), the first successful rounds having been fired on the ground in the middle of March. Together with Sidewinder and ASRAAM, this makes up the full weapons complement that the Eurofighter will be able to carry on entry into service.

The “swing role” capability (the ability to switch between the air-to-air and air-to-ground roles during the same mission) that has been much vaunted in the export campaigns will have to wait a few more years. Discussions are still under way with the participating nations regarding the precise plans for the integration of air-to-ground weapons. Preservation of the maximum degree of commonality is a priority here.

Irrespective of the details, there is no doubt that the Eurofighter will have considerable growth potential. The second batch beyond the 148 aircraft ordered so far will, for example, be prepared for mounting of auxiliary tanks along the side of the fuselage, which will enable the radius of action to be increased to over 1,800km. In the long term, new systems such as an antenna with electronic beam scanning are possible. An ongoing upgrade process is intended to keep the Eurofighter competitive for a long time. Ultimately it will form the backbone of the combat units of the air forces of the partner nations and possible export customers, as a minimum for the next 30 years.

From FLUG REVUE 5/2002

Last updated 10 April 2002

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