Taking its maiden flight from BAE Systems' factory airfield at Warton, Lancashire, on December 2 was the first Tranche 3 Eurofighter Typhoon, single-seater ZK355, which will be delivered to the RAF. Tranche 3 aircraft incorporate various modifications to enable advanced new capability enhancements to be added in the future. These include E-scan radar, conformal fuel tanks and a high-speed data network. The upgraded aircraft will become a multirole fighter, capable of shifting between air-to-air and air-to-ground attacks without having to stop to reconfigure its weapons. Visibility will be enhanced with the new E-scan radar, which uses more than 1,000 transponders and enables pilots to steer the monitoring beam at the speed of light. Extra electrical power and cooling is also incorporated to cater for the new radar. A €9bn Tranche 3A contract for 112 aircraft for the four European partner nations (Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK) was signed in 2009. The RAF will receive 40 of the Tranche 3 Typhoons. Meanwhile the 400th Eurofighter Typhoon was delivered during a ceremony on December 4 at Cassidian's Military Air Systems Centre in Manching, Southern Germany. The jet, 31+06, was handed over to the German Air Force, becoming its 112th Typhoon.
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