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| Europe |
| Storm brewing over glitches in Typhoon |
| 2005-01-31 |
| EFL:THE seriously delayed and massively over budget Eurofighter Typhoon is so unreliable it is barely airborne, according to the German government, which has just taken delivery of a squadron of the £60m planes. The new fighter-bomber, being jointly built by the UK, Germany, Spain and Italy, also lacks some of the most basic systems to protect it over the modern battlefield and has been plagued with technical problems. A report prepared for the defence committee of the German parliament said that the eight aircraft bought for the air force spent an average of just one hour a week in the air because components had to be replaced so frequently. German officials - whose reluctance to go ahead with the project in the 1990s delayed it by several years - have tried to play down the problems, but have admitted "teething troubles" with the new aircraft. The report indicated that each aircraft had spent an average of only one hour in the air per week since they came into service last April. They also lack one of the most basic defences against missile attack - decoy flares. The flares, which are often made from magnesium, are fired from aircraft and used to fool heat-seeking missiles. The reason that the lack of decoy flares is so much of a concern is the fact that many terrorist organisations have access to shoulder-launched heat-seeking missiles which are easy to carry and use and can destroy an aircraft. During the Cold War, the US and Soviet Union distributed thousands of the missiles to their allies, such as the US-backed Muslim fighters in Afghanistan and Soviet-backed Syria. British MPs have admitted that they are concerned by the difficulties with the project. One blamed the large number of countries involved in the aircraft and suggested it was a matter of "too many cooks spoil the broth". ---------- A spokesman for the Eurofighter project admitted that the first deliveries of fighters did not posses the decoy flare systems but said that future deliveries would have the flares and that air forces would be able to 'retro-fit' them to their existing machines. He said claims that planes had been grounded because of a lack of spares were based on information that was current last November and that the problems were "rapidly" being addressed now the fighters were in service and that the plane was well-liked by pilots. However, a defence committee source, based in Berlin, told Scotland on Sunday that there had been a number of "issues" with the new aircraft, although they were the "normal teething problems". A British Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "The MoD is unable to comment on the reports in the German media on their Typhoon aircraft." |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #9 ..It's not at all unusual for new a/c to have seemingly 'serious' problems - look for the blazing headlines about the F-22 'hangar queens' that will be showing up about this time next year. And early production aircraft often have some odd quirks of their own - some of the early F-15E Strike Eagles came off the line before LANTIRN was integrated into the design - so you could mount LANTIRN and use it, but the mounting point was directly beneath a flare launcher. (The location of the launcher was later moved) Everything I've heard so far is that Typhoon is having no more than the usual amount of teething troubles, but they're getting more than the usual scrutiny. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2005-01-31 10:49:27 PM |
| #8 The poster on EU is unaware that the Swiss F-18s were stripped of alot of weight that goes into making the F-18 carrier capable. A/c that are lighter accelerate better and use less fuel. The bit about electronics is simply national pride speaking,w/a tint of anti-Americanism. Problems w/spare parts for a new a/c are not that unusual. The US had a ton of F-15s sitting on ramps in mid 70s that couldn't fly. The USAF finally started ordering spare parts and the a/c matured beautifully. Now if Eurofighters start falling out of the sky,then I'd say there was a problem. Until that happens the Eurofighter is a nice hot rod that doesn't have a mission. |
| Posted by: Stephen 2005-01-31 6:03:33 PM |
| #7 ..not one in their right mind would trust us military electronics;.. There's a reason why a mil-spec exists, as opposed to commercial spec. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-01-31 5:49:30 PM |
| #6 You're seriously suggesting our avionics are substandard? Depends, did Lucas bid on the contract? |
| Posted by: Steve 2005-01-31 3:17:24 PM |
| #5 The Swiss are pissed we didn't hand over the anti-grav module. |
| Posted by: abu Bradbory 2005-01-31 2:24:15 PM |
| #4 not one in their right mind would trust us military electronics ?? Just funnin' are ye? You're seriously suggesting our avionics are substandard? What's your evidence? |
| Posted by: lex 2005-01-31 12:37:38 PM |
| #3 FOund this from a poster at EU Referendum, kind of OT: Ahhh, the F-18. Good choice. Unfortunately, it is not built anymore, and the F-18 A/E i much larger, so depending on the exact specs of your Aircraft Carrier, it might not do. The Swiss air force is very happy with the F-18 they bought. Of course, they had to be heavily modified to meet the expected performance: all the electronics — not one in their right mind would trust us military electronics; but also the air frame, so that it can withstand the accelerations required of it in the alps. And the tanks and engine were rebuilt — did you know that the swiss F-18 actually use 30% less fuel than their US counterparts? Some people wonder why they did not make a plane alone… Of course, it is because the dev. costs would have been staggering for switzerland. So if you are a big country like England, with al long and brilliant engineering tradition, you probably had better develop your own programs. |
| Posted by: anonymous2u 2005-01-31 12:18:47 PM |
| #2 This aircraft really blows. |
| Posted by: BH 2005-01-31 11:55:39 AM |
| #1 Typhoon: from the Chinese, "Tai Feng", Supreme Wind |
| Posted by: mojo 2005-01-31 11:43:28 AM |