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Why Eurofighter Gets No Respect
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March 7, 2011: Faced with more large cuts in its budget, Britain's Royal Air Force fears the worst. Over a decade of cutting corners because of similar economy moves is catching up with RAF. For example, a recent government investigation revealed that a lack of spare parts for the new Eurofighter limited the amount of time pilots could spend in the air. This, in turn, led to only eight pilots being certified as qualified to perform ground attack duties in the Eurofighter. While the Eurofighter is mainly an air-superiority ("fighter") aircraft, there is very little call for that sort of thing at the moment. Ground attack, on the other hand, is very much in demand. The RAF currently has 62 Eurofighters, an aircraft that will replace about 120 remaining Tornados.

Two years ago, Germany and Britain decided to cut back on the number of Eurofighters they will buy. Thus the final 37 Eurofighters Germany agreed to buy for its Luftwaffe (air force), will instead be offered for export. Germany would have preferred to just cancel the final 37 aircraft, but this would have resulted in over a billion dollars in cancellation fees. But the export option will hurt the Eurofighter project, as Germany will sell their 37 aircraft for whatever they can get, thus denying the Eurofighter consortium export sales.

Also in 2009, Britain decided to not take all of its third batch (or "tranche", as they like to call it in Europe) of 88 Eurofighter Typhoon fighters. This will cost Britain $2 billion in increased maintenance costs and penalties. Britain will take 40 of the fighters from the third batch, and resell another 24 to Saudi Arabia. In effect, Britain is pulling out of the Eurofighter program, and cancelling 16 of the aircraft it was to have received from the third batch. The British government believes that 184 Eurofighters will be sufficient, and that it cannot afford any more than that.

Originally, Britain planned to buy 232 (Germany was to get 180, Italy 121, and Spain 87.) Britain already has 144 Eurofighters on order from the first two batches, and will end up with 184. There are currently 260 Eurofighter Typhoon fighters in service, four years after it first entered service.

Development of the Eurofighter began in the 1980s, and the first flight took place in 1994. Each aircraft costs over $120 million, including development costs. Current estimates indicate that about 600 will eventually be built. The Typhoon is a somewhat stealthy multi-role fighter. It is fast, maneuverable, and carries a lot of weapons. It also can be used for attack missions. This 23 ton aircraft will be the principal fighter in the air forces of Britain, Spain, Germany, and Italy. The Typhoon is closer in capability to the F-15, than the F-22, and is competing with the F-35 for many export sales. The Typhoon was recently purchased by Saudi Arabia, mainly to provide protection from Iran.

But some users, like Britain and Germany, see no urgent demand for the new Eurofighter. So when it comes time to make budget cuts, spare parts for the Eurofighter, and fuel to get pilots in the air for training, are among the first things to go.

 

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Das Kardinal       3/7/2011 6:10:58 AM
_ Design-by-committee roots
_ Wrong specialization (acceptable for the F-22 because it's such a magnitude above the rest and the US budget can afford so, respectively not enough and too much for the EF users)
_ Lack of political commitment
_ Lack of funding due to economic context (compounded by the above)

These are, IMHO, the factors cursing the Eurofighter. 
 
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davebarnes    A good analysis is here   3/7/2011 10:21:29 AM
 
 
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davidhughes       3/8/2011 12:17:55 AM
Yes - the world-wide deficit crisis is indeed hitting the Eurofighter first. But that, of course, is because most of the European countries have already put massive deficit reduction programmes in place, normally involving cuts in their defence budgets in the order of 15-20%. Since the US (and China?), perhaps to its future despair, has made no attempt whatsoever to implement such cuts, obviously its airframe expansion and upgrade programmes have not been comparably adjusted.
Of course it could also be argued (and certainly some defence authorities in Europe have) that it is insane to use such expensive and specialised aircraft for such mundane purposes as dropping bombs. Not when there are simpler and cheaper methods available, ranging from Tornados to unmanned aircraft to 155mm extended range howitzers to rocket launchers.
 
After all I very much doubt if we will soon see the F-22 reconfigured for ground attack. 
 
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cwDeici       3/8/2011 2:46:22 AM

_ Design-by-committee roots

_ Wrong specialization (acceptable for the F-22 because it's such a magnitude above the rest and the US budget can afford so, respectively not enough and too much for the EF users)

The committee design was necessary due to the collaboration, and the end product seems fine to me. I outright disagree with it being of the wrong specialization. Air superiority fighters are necessary, and we are in a world where conflict is slowly becoming more likely due to resource shortages.
 
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Dave_in_Pa       3/8/2011 1:47:03 PM

Yes - the world-wide deficit crisis is indeed hitting the Eurofighter first. But that, of course, is because most of the European countries have already put massive deficit reduction programmes in place, normally involving cuts in their defence budgets in the order of 15-20%. Since the US (and China?), perhaps to its future despair, has made no attempt whatsoever to implement such cuts, obviously its airframe expansion and upgrade programmes have not been comparably adjusted.


Of course it could also be argued (and certainly some defence authorities in Europe have) that it is insane to use such expensive and specialised aircraft for such mundane purposes as dropping bombs. Not when there are simpler and cheaper methods available, ranging from Tornados to unmanned aircraft to 155mm extended range howitzers to rocket launchers.

 

After all I very much doubt if we will soon see the F-22 reconfigured for ground attack. 

I'd sure as hell hope not. The F-22 is an awesome air superiority fighter, NOT a fighter/bomber. Reconfiguring the F-22 for ground attack would be like using a Ferrari Formula One racing car as a taxi.
 
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ReconJohn       3/9/2011 12:08:49 AM
Well that would get you to work very quick
 
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frylock       3/10/2011 6:31:27 AM

Yes - the world-wide deficit crisis is indeed hitting the Eurofighter first. But that, of course, is because most of the European countries have already put massive deficit reduction programmes in place, normally involving cuts in their defence budgets in the order of 15-20%. Since the US (and China?), perhaps to its future despair, has made no attempt whatsoever to implement such cuts, obviously its airframe expansion and upgrade programmes have not been comparably adjusted.


Of course it could also be argued (and certainly some defence authorities in Europe have) that it is insane to use such expensive and specialised aircraft for such mundane purposes as dropping bombs. Not when there are simpler and cheaper methods available, ranging from Tornados to unmanned aircraft to 155mm extended range howitzers to rocket launchers.

 

After all I very much doubt if we will soon see the F-22 reconfigured for ground attack. 

Well considering the already sorry state of NATO before the upcoming cuts it begs the question as to if the US can afford to make substantial cuts. Considering they are the world's policeman who else is going to provide security for necessary for economic growth? Certainly not NATO to any great degree.
It's hard to justify having extremely specialized aircraft anymore as it's just too expensive. Even the US has decided they can't afford that luxury.
The F-22 indeed already has an air to ground capability one that the AF is currently upgrading..
 
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Shawnc       3/10/2011 9:44:39 AM
The F-22 has Air-to-Ground capabilities and can carry JDAM and SDB in its internal weapons bay. The crash of an F-22 in March 2009 that killed Lockheed test pilot David P Cooley was apparently a bombing test.
 
There's a recent report (HERE) that BAE is in negotiations with Indonesia for the sale of 24 Eurofighters, although I doubt it will go through. Note that the 5.8 Billion Euro quoted in the article would make it 241.7 million Euro for each aircraft, which I find a highly unlikely figure. (In comparison, the Saudi deal in 2008 for 72 aircraft was worth 4.43 billion pounds)
 
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davidhughes       3/10/2011 10:42:11 AM
While this (Shawnc's) comment is true, what I suspect that we are missing is the command level rationale which is (I think!!!) that future investment in manned aircraft should be limited to air-superiority roles. There is a growing emphasis on and realisation of the capability of unmanned airframes for the far more risky ground attack role. Add to that the fervent belief that the sooner pilots are taken out of the decision curve when it comes to the support of ground forces the better. Which is certainly unfair on the vast majority of pilots of all nationalities - but the number of high profile piloted 'errors' and the ease of disclaimer when machines are involved are very attractive to force leaders. Also of course the cost of training sergeants to pilot such machines is infinitely less than that needed to train and maintain ground attack pilot capability. I vaguely remember (sorry no source) that the cost of keeping up qualifications in the RAF/Army/Royal Navy ran in this order - carrier landing, ground attack, helicopter search and rescue, helicopter attack, air superiority - I suspect because in inverse order of use of ground simulators.
 
The proposed BAE sale is interesting. Eurofighter seems to be flogging its product now as the prime air-superiority fighter (except for the F-22): Contrasting with the admitted primary role of the F-35 as an attack plane.
 
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Shawnc    davidhughes   3/11/2011 5:24:11 AM
I've read the NAO analysis, and there are a couple of points that it hasn't taken into account.
 
The main one is the Saudi deal. If you take it as an 'off-set' for the UK's original allocation of Eurofighters, then the 4.8 Billion pounds they paid for 72 airframes should be taken into account in both the development cost per aircraft as well as the total program cost.
 
Another point is air-to-ground capabilities. It was never an urgent need and to be frank, it still isn't even though they have recently flown Typhoons with Paveways. The UK still has Tornado GR.4s that can adequately fulfill this role and there hasn't been any confirmed retirement date.
 
Also, other countries operating tranche 1 aircraft, like Austria, have not indicated that their airframes will be retired pass 2020. It's conceivable that by mid-decade, the RAF's tranche 1 aircraft may still have a use for homeland air-defense and training, leaving the more capable multi-role Typhoons for expeditionary purposes.
 
I do like the Typhoon, it is actually a pretty decent aircraft for it's generation, despite it's convoluted and protracted development as well as the politics that ham-strung it. It was the preferred choice in both the Singapore and Korean fighter competitions for it's air-to-air capabilties, but dropped due to it's lack of a clear and prompt multi-role roadmap. That's 100+ airframes 'lost' to the F-15K/SG.
 
Case in point about its development hamstringing export success. Back in 2005, Boeing offered Singapore the F-15SG variant with AESA and full multirole systems, and by end 2010, they've already delivered 12 with a follow-on order of 12 more. In the meantime, the Eurofighter is still flying with the mechanically-scanned Captor and has only just started integrating Paveway!
 
 
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