The German aerospace company Premium Aerotec had delivered the first centre fuselage section about two years after the Project ‘Quadriga’ contract was signed on 12 November 2020, and on schedule to meet the aircraft delivery date of 2025. In November 2019, Airbus proposed a SEAD capability for the aircraft, a role which is currently performed by the Tornado ECR in German service. The Typhoon ECR would be configured with two Escort Jammer pods under the wings and two Emitter Location Systems at the wing tips. Armament configuration would include four MBDA Meteor, two IRIS-T and six SPEAR-EW in addition to three drop tanks. On 5 November 2020, the German government approved an order for 38 Tranche 4 with ground attack capabilities for the replacement of Tranche 1 units in German service.
The Project Quadriga will see the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) receive 30 single-seater and eight twin-seater Tranche 4 Eurofighters to replace 38 Tranche 1 aircraft that are being retired. These newbuild Tranche 4 aircraft will be equipped with the E-Scan European Common Radar System (ECRS), ‘future-proof’ hardware, and updated software. These new aircraft will help sustain the German Air Force’s wider Eurofighter force out into the 2060s, by which time it is intended that they will be operating alongside the New Generation Fighter as part of the Franco-German-Spanish Future Combat Air System. this deal will secure the Eurofighter production lines through to at least 2030, will see this date pushed back further.
The Eurofighter Typhoon is a multinational twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter. The Typhoon was designed originally as an air superiority fighter and is manufactured by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo that conducts the majority of the project through a joint holding company, Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH. The NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency, representing the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain, manages the project and is the prime customer. The Eurofighter Typhoon is a highly agile aircraft, designed to be an effective dogfighter in combat. Later production aircraft have been increasingly better equipped to undertake air-to-surface strike missions and to be compatible with an increasing number of different armaments and equipment.
The Eurofighter Typhoon Tranche 4 is a multirole combat aircraft with latest CAPTOR E AESA active electronically scanned array radar. The new Tranche 4 Eurofighter is currently the most modern European-built combat aircraft with a service life well beyond 2060. German Air Force ordered 30 single-seater and 8 twin-seater Tranche 4 Eurofighters in late 2020 with cost of 5.4 billion euro. The latest order from Germany secures production of Eurofighter Typhoon until 2030. As part of German Eurofighter Typhoon contract, Hensoldt will produce AESA radar for German Air Force Eurofighter. Spain ordered 20 Tranche 4 in June 2022 and the upgrading of its existing Tranche 3 aircraft to the new standard.
