The first set of main components made by Alenia Aermacchi for the first Eurofighter Typhoon of Tranche 3a has been shipped from Alenia Aermacchi’s Caselle plant to the BAE Systems plant in Warton, UK; this first set includes wing and rear fuselage related to aircraft nr. 116 (single seat) for the Royal Air Force.
The Tranche 3a is made of a total of 112 aircraft acquired by Italy, Germany, United Kingdom and Spain and split as follows: UK: 40, Germany. 31, Italy: 21 and Spain: 20.
In addition to the introduction of the update “Phase 1 Enhancements” (P1E) that will update also the Tranche 2 aircraft, from the structural point of view the Tranche 3 aircraft characteristics are the introduction of provisions for the future use of advanced equipment such as the E-SCAN radar, the conformal tanks and the dump fuel system, all of which make Eurofighter even more competitive, especially on the export markets.
Source/Author: Alenia Aermacchi
Photo: Alenia Aermacchi