Originally conceived as a Cold War air defender, the four-nation Eurofighter Typhoon fighter has over time evolved into an advanced swing-role combat aircraft providing simultaneously deployable air-to-air and air-to-surface capabilities. In addition to its “parent” customers – Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK – variants of Typhoon also serve with the air forces of Austria, Oman and Saudi Arabia, and are on order for Kuwait and Qatar.
The aircraft has won its spurs in combat missions over Libya, Iraq and Syria, and has also regularly contributed to NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission. Furthermore, Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH – the industrial consortium of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo responsible for the design, production and sustainment of Typhoon – is continuing to pursue new business: for example, Typhoon is one of a number of candidates for Finland’s HX fighter acquisition program, while Germany has signaled its intention to order up to 93 more aircraft to meet its respective Project Quadriga and Tornado replacement requirements.
