Only recently has information emerged that Ukraine will receive specially modified Mirage-2000 aircraft from France, and negotiations are already underway on the delivery of new aircraft to our fighting neighbor. On Ukrainian television, Defense Minister Umerov declared that he hopes that in the future Russian aircraft will fly over Ukraine they will shoot down Gripen fighters and Eurofighter Typhoon.
– Talks about commitments or talks about Gripen are ongoing, as are consultations about Eurofighters. These are excellent platforms, and we are discussing when they could be delivered to Ukraine, Umerov said.
Earlier, there was information that Ukraine was negotiating with Sweden over the supply of JAS 39 Gripen fighters. However, we have not heard about attempts to acquire Eurofighters so far.. Ukraine is trying to expand its air force with as many available Western aircraft as possible, regardless of their model.
The Eurofighter Typhoon is a fighter jet developed by Great Britain, Italy, Germany i Spain in the 1990s for air superiority missions. Over the years, its capabilities have been expanded to include close ground support and electronic warfare. Today’s Typhoon fighters are true aerial beasts, capable of fighting any enemy aircraft..
Their latest version – Tranche 4 – is integrated with modern weapons such as Meteor air-to-air missiles with a range of up to 200 kilometers. In addition, Typhoon Tranche 4 has the so-called digital stealth in the form of a modernized Praetorian system. Instead of hiding its radar signature through the airframe’s design, it uses jamming systems that make it difficult to identify and target.
Eurofighter Typhoon Tranche 4 fighters may be delivered to the Air Force Polish. They are a potential offer for 32 new aircraft that would provide us with new capabilities in the domain of air superiority, destroying the highest flying enemy aircraft. You can read about what exactly the Eurogihter Typhoon fighters can bring to Poland in the article below.
However, Kyiv will not receive Eurofighter fighters in the latest available version of Tranche 4, because this is only just being introduced into service. It is also difficult to expect that Ukraine could receive the Tranche 3 version, which is the basic armament of the air forces in countries using Typhoons. Transferring them to Ukraine would significantly weaken the defense capabilities of individual countries.
Therefore, if any Typhoons do end up in Ukraine, they will most likely be the oldest Tranche 1 aircraft, designed for fighter missions only. However, their air superiority capabilities are better than the F-16s that Kiev currently has. Currently, countries operating Typhoon fighters are retiring their oldest Tranche 1 aircraft. A potential seller/donor of these fighters for Ukraine could be Italy, which announced plans to retire 24 Eurofighter Typhoon Tranche 1 fighters in July this year.
Already in early 2023, there was speculation that the Eurofighters could be delivered to Ukraine from the UK, which wants to withdraw all Tranche 1 models by 2025. Nevertheless, London decided to dismantle the planes, explaining that sending them to Ukraine is not profitableThe reason was the low availability of spare parts and the potentially high cost of maintaining older machines in the Ukrainian armed forces.
Tactical and technical parameters of the Eurofighter Typhoon Tranche 1 fighter:
- Length: 15.96 m
- Wingspan: 10.95 m
- Height: 5.28 m
- Maximum take-off weight: 23,500 kg
- Maximum armament weight: 9000 kg
- Propulsion: 2 x Eurojet EJ200 turbojet engines
- Top speed: 2,125 km/h
- Flight range: 2900 km
- Ceiling: 19,182 m
- Armament: Mauser BK-27 gun and a total of 13 suspension points for air-to-air missiles (AIM-9 Sidewinder, AIM-132 ASRAAM, AIM-120 B/C AMRAAM)
The biggest advantage of the Typhoon fighter over Ukraine would be the ability to gain air superiority and destroy enemy aircraft. Operating at an altitude of almost 20 kilometers, the Eurofighter could more easily destroy Russian aircraft, thanks to its altitude advantage. It could even act as a defense against Russian Tu-95 bombers that bomb Ukrainian infrastructure. In an ideal doctrine Eurofighter, operating at high altitudes, protects, among others, F-16s and MiG-29s, which operate at medium altitudes.
Eurofighter Tranche 1 would compete with modern Russian air superiority fighters such as the Su-35. This would be a huge challenge for a Western design. Even in the Tranche 1 version, Eurofighter has important systems that increase the pilot’s situational awareness, allowing it to avoid being shot down. However, the technological difference may be noticeable. Additionally, the transferred fighters may have modified elements, such as mission data software, to limit the spread of secret weapons technology. This would limit the basic capabilities of fighters in Ukraine.
Source: geekweek.interia.pl
