A few days ago, the British Ministry of Defense announced its plan to dismantle Eurofighter Typhoon Tranche 1 fighter jets, thereby rejecting discussions regarding their continued use or even a possible upgrade. This decision will reduce the total number of Typhoon aircraft within the Royal Air Force (RAF) to 107 – 67 Tranche 2 and 40 Tranche 3 jets.
This announcement was made in response to a parliamentary question from Clive Lewis, MP for Norwich South, who asked for clarification on the current status of the Tranche 1 aircraft and a possible transfer of the aircraft to Ukraine for its defense campaign against Russia. Ukraine for its defense campaign against Russia submitted. James Cartlidge, Minister of State for Procurement at the Ministry of Defense, repliedthat no Tranche 1 Typhoon has been retired or even donated to Ukraine since February 2022.
James Cartlidge in detail
“The Tranche 1/FGR4 fleet is undergoing a ‘Reduce to Produce’ program to generate serviceable parts to contribute to the spare parts inventory of the RAF’s remaining active Typhoon fleet,” said Cartlidge. “Under the current strategy, 26 Typhoon Tranche 1 aircraft are due to end service on March 31, 2025, with four continuing to fly until 2027.” The ministry’s intention (-> report by the British specialist medium aerotime.aero) raised concerns about a capability gap in the country’s defense capability due to the number of aircraft, particularly within the Defense Committee. In a speech to the Defense Committee, MP Mark Francois questioned the logic behind the decommissioning of the aircraft and suggested that at least some of them should be placed in a war reserve. And last September, a prominent group of British MPs presented a study suggesting that the Tranche 1 Typhoons should be mothballed rather than scrapped. https://militaeraktuell.at/generalmajor-dorfer-und-brigadier-promberger-bestaetigt/ The study criticized the decision to bring forward the jets’ retirement date to 2025 and highlighted the lack of a reserve within the RAF. The MPs argued that the aircraft were not obsolete, but that they could be upgraded. After all, the aircraft would be retired after only 42 percent of their service life or after a total of “only” 2,545 flying hours. However, the RAF assured that the gradual withdrawal of the Typhoons from service would not pose any operational challenges.
Too complicated for Ukraine
At the beginning of last year, reports suggested that the UK could deliver its early Eurofighters to Ukraine, which wants to use Western aircraft types to better resist the Russian armed forces. However, logistical challenges and discussions about operating in a belligerent country led to the idea being shelved. the idea was abandoneda decision that has now been reaffirmed by Minister of State Cartlidge. The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), with its aerospace analyst Justin Bronk, also pointed out several key challenges in the event of a possible handover. several key factors that would be difficult to resolve. These include the incompatibility of the Tranche-1 with the Meteor BVR missile and the need for US approval to export the AIM-120C8/D, which is now only available. In addition, the air-to-ground capabilities of the early Typhoon would be limited to Paveway II bombs and Litening III target illuminators, which would make the aircraft less effective over the Ukrainian front lines. In addition – but this applies at least as much to the forthcoming deliveries of F-16 fighter jets – the Typhoon’s low foreign object detection (FOD) air intakes could become a problem, especially in view of the Ukrainian makeshift bases, which are likely to change frequently.
Help for Austria?
Last year, Militär Aktuell had contact with a consultant from the British Ministry of Defense for so-called “Excessive Defence Articles”. This also involved Tranche 1 parts and the British TyTAN logistics program. British TyTAN logistics program. At the relevant level in the Armed Forces only said that they were “in talks with all Eurofighter Core Nations”. The Material Staff Air (MSL) is responsible for all these considerations – as it concerns the operation of the aircraft.
Click here for more Eurofighter news.
