The Eurofighter Typhoon is a European multifunction fighter jet, developed by a joint program involving the companies Alenia Aeronautica, BAE Systems and ADS (Airbus Defense and Space), former EADS and the governments of the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Spain.
The development of the aircraft effectively began in 1983 with the Future European Fighter Aircraft program, a multinational collaboration between the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Disagreements about the project's authority and operational requirements led France to leave the consortium to develop Dassault Rafale independently.
A technology demonstration aircraft, British Aerospace EAP, flew for the first time on August 6, 1986. The first finished Eurofighter prototype made its first flight on March 27, 1994
The aircraft's name, Typhoon, was adopted in September 1998 and the first production contracts were also signed that year. The sudden end of the Cold War reduced the European demand for fighter planes and led to the debate about the cost of the aircraft and participation in the work, in addition to prolonging the development of the Typhoon: the Typhoon entered operational service in 2003 and is now in service in the air forces of Austria, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, Saudi Arabia and Oman. Kuwait and Qatar also ordered the aircraft, bringing total purchases to 623 aircraft in 2019.
The Eurofighter Typhoon is a highly agile aircraft, designed to be an extremely effective dogfighter in combat. Later production aircraft have been increasingly well equipped to carry out air-to-surface attack missions and to be compatible with an increasing number of different armaments and equipment, including the Storm Shadow and Brimstone missiles.
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