Weapons

The Typhoon has 13 hardpoints for a warload of up to 6500 kg. 4000 liters of external fuel can be carried in three external tanks.

Air-to-Air Weapons

Advanced Beyond-Visual-Range Air-to-Air Missile (ABVRAAM)

The contenders for this requirement were an improved version of the Raytheon AIM-120C AMRAAM, and the Matra-BAe Dynamics Meteor. On May 16th 2000 it was announced that the Meteor had been selected, for service entry later in the decade. To bridge the gap before the Meteor is available, a number of standard AMRAAMs have been procured.

Meteor is an active-radar, ramjet-powered missile which continues under power, at Mach 4, all the way to the target. Normally four will be carried by the Typhoon.

A £1.2 billion contract for the development and production of the Meteor was issued to MBDA(UK) by the UK MoD on December 23rd 2002. Production is due to begin in 2008.

Meteor AAM AIM-120C AMRAAM
Meteor AAM AIM-120C AMRAAM

An RAF Typhoon F.2 flew with two dummy Meteors on December 15th 2005.

Advanced Short-Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM)

In RAF service the short range AAM is the AIM-132 ASRAAM. A contract for development and initial production was placed with British Aerospace Defence Division, now Matra BAe Dynamics (UK) Ltd, in April 1992. An option for a second tranche of missiles was placed in June 1995. The first operational missile deliveries commenced in January 2002.

The design is wingless, with aerodynamic tail control giving a fast, highly agile missile (It can apparently pull 50g immediately after launch). Target acquisition and track is achieved by an advanced imaging infra-red seeker and state of the art image processing. The Electronics and Power Unit, the brain of the missile, is one of the most powerful computer systems ever used in a missile. It offers all round target designation to complement the aircraft's own sensors, allowing targets to be acquired anywhere in the forward hemisphere. The missile has been designed as a hittile; however, target kill is enhanced by the high energy, fragmentation warhead which is initiated either by impact or by a laser proximity fuse.

In-service firing trials for ASRAAM were carried out in May 2005 on the Aberporth range.

ASRAAM is 2.9m long and 0.166m in diameter. It has a launch weight of 88kg. The warhead accounts for 10kg of this. Speed is Mach 3+ and range from 300m to 15000m+.

Infra Red Imaging System – Tail/Thrust Vector Control (IRIS-T)

German, Italian and Spanish Typhoons will be equipped with the IRIS-T short-range air-to-air missile. In operational service Typhoon will be able to carry and fire up to four IRIS-T missiles across the entire flight envelope. Clearance for full IRIS-T capabilities enabled by a digital interface on the Eurofighter will be included with Tranche 2 enhancements. This includes advanced capabilities that fully realise the potential of IRIS-T off-boresight and lock-after-launch capabilities.

Although based on the AIM-9 Sidewinder, IRIS-T improves upon it quite substantially in practically every area. The missile consists of five main sections; guidance, fuse, warhead, motor and tail control. The guidance section contains a scanning imaging infra-red sensor. The array has a resolution of 128 by 128 pixels which combined with digital signal processing gives the missile an ability to "see" its target. In addition the seeker offers an off-boresight capability of 90 degrees in all directions. This gives it the ability to be launched "over the shoulder" via an appropriate cueing system. Targetting data can also be taken from the launch platform's radar. Initial guidance is provided by a strap-down inertial navigation system. Behind the sensor sits an active radar-based fuse. This provides both range and range-rate information allowing the missile to detonate its warhead at a pre-determined distance form the target.

The next component is a dual-layer HE fragmentation warhead. Behind this sit the main propulsion and control systems. The rocket motor utilises a smokeless propellant arranged in a star-shaped formation within the combustion chamber. This section also provides the attachment point for four wings, which provide additional lift. The rear most section contains the thrust vectoring nozzle as well as four fins. The nozzle utilises four vanes placed within the exhaust. By directly controlling the position of these vanes the thrust can be vectored in any required direction, making turns in excess of 50g possible.

AIM-9 Sidewinder short-range missile

The Typhoon is compatible with the AIM-9 Sidewinder.

BK27 Mauser cannon

The Typhoon has a single Mauser BK27 27mm gas-operated revolver cannon located in the starboard wing root. This a development of the cannon used in the Tornado. For the Typhoon, Mauser has developed a linkless feed for the cannon, in which live ammunition is moved to the gun on a conveyor belt, which then delivers the empty cartridges back to the storage box. This means that there are no empty cartidges floating around inside the aircraft, and no links to cause stoppages

The cannon package weighs 100 kg, or which the barrel accounts for 17kg. Rate of fire is approximately 1700 rounds per minute.

Air-to-Surface Weapons

UK 1000lb / US Mk 82 iron bomb

RBL755 cluster bomb

It appears that the RBL-755 will be withdrawn in 2008.

GBU-10/16 laser-guided bomb

ALARM anti-radar missile

The Matra/BAE Dynamics ALARM is an anti-radar fire-and-forget missile. It is 4.3m long, has a wing span of 0.72m and a diameter of 0.224 m, and weighs 584lb (265kg) at launch.

ALARM has five operating modes. In Direct Mode the missile is fired directly at the chosen target (for which range and bearing are known). It flies an optimal trajectory to engage the target in as short a time as possible. Should the emitter go off the air, the missile will automatically select the next best target.

The unique Loiter Mode also assumes the target range and bearing are known, and is used to defeat a radar which is operating intermittently. The missile flies a climbing trajectory to a point above the target, deploys its parachute, and while slowly descending it searches for RF energy. When this is detected, the missile dives on to the target. To force an emitter off the air for a longer period of time, a second round would be launched some time after the first.

The third mode which assumes known range and bearing to the target is the Dual Mode, in which the missile initially flies the Direct Attack profile. Should the target shut down, the missile will switch to Loiter Mode and wait for it to come on the air again.

Two modes are used for situations where the position of threat emitters is not known prior to launch. The Corridor/Area Suppression Mode is optimised for low altitude launches. In this mode the missile initially climbs steeply, and then coasts in a shallow dive searching for targets programmed before launch. The Universal Mode is similar, but is optimised for medium to high latitude launch and provides a larger search pattern and better range.

ALARM will only be carried by RAF Typhoons. Up to six can be carried.

Brimstone

Brimstone is being developed by Alenia Marconi Systems to satisfy RAF Staff Requirement (Air) 1238 for an advanced anti-armour weapon. Brimstone is a smart modular missile using an active radar seeker to provide autonomous guidance. Externally it is very similar to the Hellfire missile on which it is based, but most components have been modified. The missile is designed to defeat all modern and future armoured threats in a wide range of scenarios, and has stand-off capability to minimise the threat to the delivery aircraft.

The first air launch of Brimstone occured at the end of September 2000, when a missile was released from a Tornado over the Aberporth range in west Wales.

The Typhoon will be able to carry up to 18 Brimstones.

Taurus KEPD 350

The Taurus KEPD 350 air-launched cruise missile has been ordered by Germany to equip its Tornadoes and Typhoons. Deliveries are due to begin in mid-2004, with the last of 600 being delivered in 2009.

Taurus has a range of 350 km and GPS navigation. Its dual-purpose Mephisto warhead has intelligent fuzing for target effect optimization (ie it can be programmed for point as well as area targets).

Enhanced PAVEWAY II

To accelerate the Typhoon's ground attack capabilities, the RAF is introducing an interim package of a Litening III targeting pod and Enhanced PAVEWAY II laser-guided bombs.

EPWII is based on its laser-guided bomb variant, the Paveway II, and utilises the same 1000lb warhead and fin sections. However, the EPWII has a modified guidance section and wiring to accommodate a Global Positioning System Aided Inertial Navigation System (GAINS).

Once released from the launch aircraft, EPW is fully autonomous in cases where cloud cover over the target may obstruct the laser and prevent weapon guidance. In these instances, it is steered to the target using Global Positioning System (GPS) information and guidance from its on-board inertial navigation unit. Alternatively, the weapon can be guided to the target by laser, with designation provided by the launch aircraft, other aircraft or ground units.

LITENING is an advanced airborne infrared targeting and navigation pod. Designed to improve both day and night attack capabilities, LITENING presents pilots with real-time, FLIR and CCD imagery. It is fully operational 24 hours a day and in adverse weather conditions. Litening II can acquire targets altitudes of up to 40,000 feet.

Future Weapons

A number of weapons are either in development, or could be carried by the Typhoon. These include:

Weapon Configurations

Air InterdictionClose Air Support
Defence SuppressionMaritime Attack

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© David Hastings