2005

December 2005

UK sign Government to Government Understanding with Saudi Arabia for Eurofighter Typhoon to replace Tornado ADV and other aircraft in the Saudi Arabian Air Force.

Final flight of Development Aircraft One (DA1) after 11 years of flight operations.

The Italian Air Force place two armed Eurofighter Typhoons in constant operational readiness as part of the Surveillance of Aerial Spazio (SSSA) in Grosseto.

Eurofighter Typhoon Block 2B achieves four-Nation Type Acceptance.
First flight achieved with the METEOR Beyond Visual Range air-to-air missile. Two GHTMs (ground handling training missile) were loaded onto an RAF 17 Sqn Typhoon for the trials at RAF Coningsby, UK. Eurofighter Typhoon has now demonstrated the ability to carry all air-to-air weapons assigned to it in the Air Defence role.

First deliveries of IRIS-T short range air-to-air missile to the German Air Force.

November 2005

Italian Air Force surpass 1,000 operational flying hours, as the entire in-service fleet achieve 5,000 flying hours.

Major General Klaus L. Axelsen, Chief of the Royal Danish Air Force Air Materiel Command, takes a VIP back-seat flight in Eurofighter Typhoon. On landing, he stated “You should be proud of this very capable aircraft.”

October 2005

Italian Defence Minister, Antonio Martino, takes a VIP flight in Eurofighter Typhoon. He claims “Flying this aircraft is like a drug!”

First flight of upgraded avionics software.

Four-ship formation of Eurofighter Typhoons make a fly-past over Heldenplatz, Vienna, as part of the celebrations marking the 50th Anniversary of the Austrian Armed Forces.

Handover of Aircrew Synthetic Training Aids (ASTA) building to the German Air Force, at Fighter Wing 74, Neuburg.

September 2005

Eurofighter Typhoon makes first-ever appearance in Turkey. The Italian Air Force send two aircraft from Grosseto as part of the International Defence Fair (IDEF) 2005, in Ankara.

Assessments of Air-to-Air Refuelling Handling Qualities completed.

Successful firings of AIM-9L Sidewinder missiles.

German and Spanish Air Force support EADS campaign efforts in Greece with aircraft in the aerial and static displays, at Archangel 2005 Airshow, Tanagra Air Base, Greece.

August 2005

Gross Manoeuvring Levels flight trials completed on IPA5.

Campaign of Flutter Test flights completed with DA3 at Decimomannu Air Base.
First flight withPhase 4 software and three external tanks.

July 2005

IPA4 commences ambitious heat trials in Southern Spain. The aircraft is to make around 40 flights in extreme high temperatures.
Royal Air Force 29 (R) Squadron moves to RAF Coningsby, from BAE Systems’ Warton facility.

June 2005

The number of aircraft delivered into service with the four Eurofighter partner air forces of Germany, UK, Italy and Spain soared through fifty, following simultaneous acceptance by the German and Spanish Air Force.

Eurojet deliver the 250th Series Production EJ200 engine to the customer.

EADS CASA Military Aircraft begins long-term tests under operational conditions on Eurofighter Typhoon at the Spanish Air Force base of Morón.

The Government of Norway increases funding levels for its Eurofighter Industrial participation programme by a further 12.5 million Euros.

April 2005

With deployment of IS002 from Alenia’s facilities in Torino to 4° Stormo “Amadeo d’Aosta” at Grosseto, Italy, all four partner air forces in Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom now operate series production single seaters with Batch 2 standard. These aircraft have PSP2 Capability (Production System Package) with Initial Defensive Aids Subsystem (DASS), Multifunctional Information and Distribution System (MIDS), Initial Direct Voice Input (DVI) and Sensor Fusion.

Six Batch 2 aircraft have been accepted by the customer air forces so far, totalling the number of now delivered series production aircraft at 41 (including 5 Instrumented Production Aircraft IPA).

March 2005

Successful weapon trials of Advanced Medium Range Air-Air Missile (AMRAAM) guided firing trials at QinetiQ Deep Sea Range at Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides. The test flight on Typhoon DA 4, piloted by BAES Chief Test Pilot Paul Hopkins and Dave Sully in the rear seat, was supported by a RAF flight refuelling tanker, a Nimrod MR2 to check for surface vessels within the danger area, and by the Royal Navy, who provided the unmanned Mirach targets. The profile for this test required the Typhoon aircraft to track two targets by radar, to simulate an attack on one Mirach using a captive AMRAAM missile while simultaneously attacking the second target with an active missile. The active AMRAAM scored a direct hit on the target and destroyed it.

February 2005

Major General Erich Wolf, Chief of Staff Austrian Air Force, has flown Eurofighter at a visit to the RAF at BAES in Warton. General Wolf commented after the flight: “This was the most impressive aircraft I’ve ever flown and I’ve flown many aircraft including the F-16, F-18, MiG-29 and the Gripen. An outstanding aeroplane with outstanding performance that meets our expectations and requirements. The man-machine interface is superb and pilot orientated.”

At the invitation of the Italian Air Force two pilots of the Turkish Air Force had the opportunity to fly Eurofighter at Grosseto Base in a three ship formation with pilots of the hosting 4th Squadron. During the flight, that lasted 45 minutes, the Turkish pilots experienced the excellent aircraft performance of high manoeuvrability and exceptional thrust. Several manoeuvres were performed to underline the incredible acceleration and the optimum handling of the aircraft and its intercepting capabilities.

January 2005

Delivery of Single Seaters started in December 2004, with Spanish & Italian Air Forces to receive the first aircrafts. Germany and UK will follow shortly. These aircraft are equipped with DASS (Defensive Aids Subsystem), MIDS (Multiple Information Distribution System), Chaff and Flare .