Fylde aircraft maker tests Typhoon upgrade

Royal Air Force pilots have put the improvements through their paces in flight trials at BAE Systems’ Fylde base at Warton where the aircraft have their final assembly.

An early version of the Phase 2 Enhancement (P2Ea) Typhoon was flown by pilots based at the RAF’s Test and Evaluation Squadron, at RAF Coningsby.

The package incorporates software and avionics improvements such as upgrades to the radar, defensive aids systems and targeting pods.

These will not only increase threat awareness and pilot safety, but also improve Typhoon’s targeting capabilities.

Testing of the package will be ongoing throughout 2016 with weapons integration tests also scheduled for this year.

Wing Commander Steven Berry, Officer Commanding 41(R) Test and Evaluation Sqn, said: “The P2Ea upgrade brings some major capability changes and some welcome tweaks to the existing capabilities.

“The enhancements mean as an air-to-surface platform, Typhoon has the simplicity and flexibility in the design to be easily employed in close air support missions or more complex scenarios such as convoy over-watch.”