1997

December 1997

Eurofighter's first flight with large external stores and the first missile test firing of a Sidewinder AIM-9L and the release of an AIM-120 AMRAAM Eurofighter's first flight at Mach 2.0

The Defence Ministers of the UK , Germany , Spain , and Italy sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Bonn , covering Production Investment and Production and Logistic Support

October 1997

The development programme sees the 500th test flight, by DA5 from Manching , Germany

August 1997

DA1 flies from Manching , Germany to Warton , England to commence a two-week co-operation flight trial

July 1997

DA2 deploys for the first time to a RAF station (RAF Leeming), and undergoes hardened shelter compatibility and other trials

March 1997

DA4 makes its first flight from Warton , England . This is the second two-seater aircraft, and is also equipped with the Captor radar

February 1997

DA5 makes its first flight from Manching , Germany . It is equipped with the newly developed Captor radar