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The Luftwaffe says the first few Eurofighter Typhoons of the Tranche 2 configuration have now been delivered to the Laage air base and assigned to the 73rd fighter wing “Steinhoff.” The aircraft, in the Block 8 standard, is a big upgrade from the Tranche 1 aircraft the unit has had in service so far. The computer architecture is greatly enhanced and the Tranche 2 aircraft also phases in air-to-ground capabilities. The Luftwaffe is to get 68 Tranche 2 aircraft, on top of the 44 Tranche 1s Germany bought. Germany plans to buy 180 Typhoons in total, with deliveries roughly through 2017, although the exact timeline will be affected by discussions over the Tranche 3 contract. Those talks are currently ongoing between the U.K., Germany, Italy, and Spain, as well as industry. By the time the Typhoon fielding is complete, the Luftwaffe expects to have about 262 combat aircraft in inventory (it's probably not in memory of the Me-262, but the connection is still nice). That figure is down from around 340 currently in service today. The Tornado fleet is slated to shrink to 85 units around 2015. [Photo: Luftwaffe]
The Luftwaffe says the first few Eurofighter Typhoons of the Tranche 2 configuration have now been delivered to the Laage air base and assigned to the 73rd fighter wing “Steinhoff.”
The aircraft, in the Block 8 standard, is a big upgrade from the Tranche 1 aircraft the unit has had in service so far. The computer architecture is greatly enhanced and the Tranche 2 aircraft also phases in air-to-ground capabilities.
The Luftwaffe is to get 68 Tranche 2 aircraft, on top of the 44 Tranche 1s Germany bought. Germany plans to buy 180 Typhoons in total, with deliveries roughly through 2017, although the exact timeline will be affected by discussions over the Tranche 3 contract. Those talks are currently ongoing between the U.K., Germany, Italy, and Spain, as well as industry.
By the time the Typhoon fielding is complete, the Luftwaffe expects to have about 262 combat aircraft in inventory (it's probably not in memory of the Me-262, but the connection is still nice). That figure is down from around 340 currently in service today. The Tornado fleet is slated to shrink to 85 units around 2015.
[Photo: Luftwaffe]
Tags: ar99, Typhoon, Luftwaffe, Tornado