LiveFist Visiting Typhoon Base This Week

Headlines Today has been invited to visit the Typhoon facilities in Germany. I’m leaving tomorrow for a two-day visit to the Typhoon’s final assembly line at Manching and then to the Rostock-Laage air force base on Germany’s Baltic coast where I will spend a day with an operational Typhoon squadron dedicated to training and type conversion. Will also interview senior executives at Eurofighter and Eurojet. I’ve got a host of questions I’ll be asking, but if LiveFist readers want any specific questions answered, feel free to put them in the comments section. Will check before leaving. Will blog from Germany. Have a good week, all.

30 thoughts on “LiveFist Visiting Typhoon Base This Week”

  1. Hi shiv!,
    Just try finding out about the CAESAR and the actualy T/W of the EJ200 with the TVC and if the advantage gained by the TVC would be nullified by the excess weight.

  2. yes i have some Questions .

    1. In which way Typhoon Tranche 3 has advantages than other competitors .

    2. As per india , in what case typhoon has upper hand against J – series jet s of china / Pak F-16 ( newly purchased ).

  3. Dear Shiv,

    My question is with regards to stand off weapons capability of the Typhoon. This is much touted in their demos. Will they be offering the capability to India ?

    The Storm Shadow for example exceeds the MTCR restrictions for export. Will they be willing to offer a reduced range version <300 kms for India ? Or is it not on offer at all.

  4. 1. They are offering the latest tranche-3 capability typhoon and it is still under development.. what will b the future(both short term and long-term) scope in upgradation???

    2. If there any component sourced frm USA, can they make sure they get the required clearances from them in time?

    3. If typhoon is also selected for IN's carrier-based fighter then will the production of both variants b running in parallel or not??

  5. what is the status Of Trache-3 modification now & actually what wepons/wepon system they are going to add in this trache as per the coming years.Is it really facing problems of funding and support from the consortium.
    What is the thought about devloping the TVC version of EJ200 engine.

  6. what is the status of their AESA radar.

    How does the typhoon match with the 5th gen. Fighters in their opinion

    Do they intend to develop the product further. If so how much dedicated are their partners.

  7. Yes

    Shiv

    I have some querries too. Pls get the answers, if you pls.

    Q1. Is there something like CISMOA, End user Agreements for us to get holdof sophisticated technologies and sub systems associated with these. If yes then how is India planning to source them.

    Q2. As per wikipedia, the Typhoon will be fitted with 2 Eurojet EJ200 generating just 60kn thrust, much less than LCA Kaveri. Will the 2 Eurojet EJ200 b customized for India to deliver atleast 90kn thrust.

    Q3. Whats the weapons payload composition

    Q4. What abt the various design blueprints, will those be shared with India.

    Q5. The economic offset for the MMRCA tender was increased to 50% under the DPP 2006. What all is the Eurofighter GmbH willingto offset.

  8. Which way is the supercruise technology advantageous, as compared to other aircrafts engines? If India buy's the aircraft, will all technical details of the supercruise technology be given to India?

  9. Hi Shiv,

    EF is the best 4+ gen fighter jet in Air to Air combat. What about its Air to Ground capabilities? What are the major systems and weapons which it use for G to A mission?

    What is the status of EJ-2000 engine with TVC?

  10. ask abt the AESA radar, thrust vectoring and transfer of technology on offer. Also abt the engine if the technology transfer will be made so that they can be made in india??

  11. Hi Shiv! Hope you enjoy your trip to Germany.

    I'm sure you'd have covered all the important and minor questions.

    Could you please find out if there is any truth to the claims about the Rafale having scored EF and Raptor kills in the recent exercises in the ME.

    Thanks.

  12. Question: One reason why India should not buy the euro fighter typhoon over other aircraft

    Question: on a scale of 1 to 10 how do that rank the fighters and how do they rank the LCA program

  13. Some Questions:

    How much TOT they r willing to give to offset others, and how that TOT can be helpfull with regard to MCA

    We are already geeting engine tech for LCA(if selected), what more can we get for MCA, regarding the huge cost of this jet, source codes for CAESAR may be??

  14. My question is: If India is made a partner in Eurofighter project, what kind of role would it be expected to play? All the design and development is already done, all that is left is manufacturing.

  15. hey shivy!!

    Pls ask them about whether the typhoon would be further develop into 5th generation fighter plane..if yes would india be a part of it..though they have offered India to be a part of any further development.

  16. Hey shiv, just wanted to know if the typhoon's aesa radar is as good as the american ones and if weapons from other countries are compatible with it, also please find out and mention what the officials from eurofighter have to say on why it should be declared the winner, thanks:-)

  17. 1. Will they be willing to set-up an EJ200 engine plant in India in collaboration with HAL or any other partner to produce an engine line on the lines of Shakti engine for Dhruv?

    2. Will they be ready to help for the LCA MK2 improvement for testing LCA prototypes with enlarged the air-intakes and weight reduction?

    3. Can Eurojet be fitted interchangeably on pylons with Astra/Meteor/R-77/Python ? What are the restrictions if any?

  18. hi i m amit . pl ask them ……. if we select eurofihter will they give tot. and upto which level. what abt tot of american companies

  19. Hi,

    1. Pls ask them about its stealth capability( I mean Radar Cross Section). As per reports Rafale is having low RCS.

    2. Among the MRCA aircraft, reports claim that its A2G capability is really poor.

  20. one main question is can Typhoon with TVC, operational AESA and new weapons be ready for 1st aircraft delivery by late 2013 and will it cost below $100 million per unit. If they cant deliver by 2013…tell them..nice aircraft..but such a waste of money and come back. How much would it cost for N-EF to be developed and why should India buy the Typhoon, will full-tot be offered…i know EADS can't answer that because most of the core hi-tech parts and weapons are from the US, EF also has the worst logistical chain with parts coming from across the globe…will be a nightmare…gr8 aircraft but a waste. Why should India go for the EJ2000 on the LCA mk-2 when the GE 414 has demonstrated supercruise on the Gripen NG, it is capable of allweather and marine operation, its cheaper and allows the Super hornet to have an unlimited aoa with stall free operation, why should IAF go for the EJ when its atleast twice the price. To say the Ge 414 is old is useless because before the Gripen NG, the engine didnt even exist, it has been remodeled to deliver higher thrust and is one of the most proven engines in the world. i mean no super hornet has ever crashed due to engine malfunction. TVC has additional maintenance and with today's BVR missiles like Aim-120C, Aim-120D, Meteor, Astra chances are you'll never see close up dogfights because even within visual range, most fighters now carry short range missiles. Ge 404 on the LCA mk-1 so far has wonder record of performance, though it has lower thrust, it is reliable now why should HAL waste their time working together with Eurojet, a new partner, disclose info that needn't be disclosed. HAL has good working relationship with GE. Secondly due to high price the EF is most certainly a no buy in the competition and due to its uncertainty about the on time delivery EF though a good aircraft wont win due to the price. Super Hornet on the other hand is the only contender that can deliver on time in 2013, has proven AESA, will have new Ge 414 EPE upgrade with 120KN thrust each and has even more advanced weapons like SDB, LJDAM, JDAM-ER, Aim-120D etc deployed on it, its cheaper and has very high aoa and gives access to training in US frequently. Except Russia all contending nations go every year to train in the US due to large scale, ranges and sophistication. except Russia none of the contenders can offer such after sales support. for nay sayers, well even if there are differences in Indo-US relations, India has become too big and powerful for US to ever place sanctions on it.

  21. Hi Shiv,

    Just wanted to know if EJ-200 selected for LCA, is there a chance that it would be able to reach 100kn thrust with some minor modifications in it before LCA MK-II production starts. The changes would be similar to the changes between GE-F404 and GE-F404IN.

    Thanks,
    -Sanjib

  22. Hey Shiv..
    Could you ask if its possible to integrate russian weapon systems on the typhoon, if we select it for the MRCA role… and help us integrate the weapons on offer from them into our operational systems then…
    It could give them the edge in the competion…
    I mean with our situation we need the mix and match capability…

  23. I think the most interesting questions are (although I doubt the germans will answer them correctly now), when will the AESA radar be tested and available?
    And which A2G weapons will be available for Eurofighter Tranche 3A (which should be the version that IAF could get in time)?

    Regarding some questions asked before:

    The E200 of EF offers 90kN after burner trust, which is more than Kaveri offers, otherwise IAF would not evaluate that engine for LCA MK2.

    Scalp, which is the French version of Storm Shadow, was exported to UAE and Greece with limited range (less than 300Km), so the weapons should be on offer for India too. The problem is that the Eurofighter at the moment is not capable to use such stand off weapons, because they are not integrated and it's not clear when they will be, or if foreign countries must pay extra for the integration.

    UK had started the development of a Sea Typhoon for their new carriers and stopped it later, because the development would be too costly and it would be easier to go for F35B.
    So it is possible to develop a navalise version of the EF, but it will be costly and make the most expensive fighter even costlier.
    Why should IN go for such a development, if there are already good naval fighters available with Rafale, F18SH and even the F35 that seems to be on offer.

    EF was designed with a very low RCS in mind and will get some further reductions in later upgrades, but it can't be a 5.gen fighter. Also UK and ITA, two major members are already are partners in the F35, what means they have no need (and no money) for another 5. gen fighter development.

    EADS has stated that India can't be an equal partner, because the fighter is already developed. Instead they offered a partnership in production of avionics for all EFs.
    Mainly that means they are outsorcing that part of the production, to reduce costs, but India won't have anything to say regarding future upgrades, or things like that.

  24. Great!

    Where are they on Typhoon working together with Uav's

    How long would it take to make a typhoon able to operate from a carrier? What parts should be modified? Could they operate from future British aircraft carriers?

    When do they expect an answer from Japan? and from Switzerland?

    What are the most interested customers in the Middle East?

    Has typhoon ever flown with an AESA? When and where? Is there a prototype? When a future AESA will 1) enter production 2) become fully operational? Do they offer joint development to Indian partners (DRDO? BEL? NAL?) Did they answered DRDO's RFP on active arrays?

    Do they confirm drills results :
    1) Typhoon shooting down Eagle in Spain (which Rules of Engagement?)
    2) Typhoon being shot down by Rafale in the Gulf (which Rules of Engagement?)

    Thanx

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