Maybe Eurofighter? Could this fighter jet help Ukraine win the war? – Technology Org
It is pretty much certain at this point that Ukraine is not getting the F-16 fighters. They would be too difficult to integrate given the ongoing Russian invasion. The US president Joe Biden said that Ukraine simply doesn’t need that kind of fighter jets at the moment. But what if it does? Maybe the Eurofighter Typhoon would be a good option?
Eurofighter Typhoon of the Italian Air Force. Image credit: wallycacsabre via Wikimedia (CC BY 2.0)
The Eurofighter Typhoon is actually a much younger fighter jet than the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon. While the F-16 took off for its maiden flight in 1974 and started service in 1978, Typhoon started flying in 1994 and was introduced in 2003.
Eurofighter Typhoon was born through collaboration between the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain. France was initially part of the project, but left and developed the Dassault Rafale independently.
The Eurofighter Typhoon is a twin-engine multirole fighter, designed with manoeuvrability in mind. It has a canard delta wing design and is made for dogfighting, but is generally a highly versatile jet. It has two Eurojet EJ200 afterburning turbofan engines and can reach speeds of up to 2,125 km/h. Its crew consists of 1-2 pilots.
Typhoon has an integrated 27 mm revolver cannon and has 13 hardpoints for various air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles and bombs. In fact, it can be armed to combat ships as well. Eurofighter Typhoon is a highly capable and modern weapon, even though it is not a fifth generation STEALTH aircraft.
Typhoon has 13 hardpoints in total and can be armed with different air-to-air, air-to-surface missiles and bombs. Image credit: wallycacsabre via Wikimedia (CC BY 2.0)
The Eurofighter Typhoon is still in production (much like the F-16). Its primary users are the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. But could this list be expanded to include Ukraine?
Discussions whether Ukraine really needs Western-made jet fighters At the moment aside, the Eurofighter Typhoon would be a good option. It is modern, highly capable and dependable.
Furthermore, because this fighter jet is so popular, its operations in Ukraine could be supported by multiple countries, which should mean that Ukrainian fighters would have plenty of spare parts. Furthermore, all these countries could provide training for pilots and technicians.
However, the transfer of the Eurofighter Typhoon to Ukraine would face the same obstacles. These jets are multirole – something that Ukraine’s airforce didn’t work with before. This means that additionally to long training periods Typhoons would need tactical and strategic changes in the Ukrainian military doctrine. No time for that kind of upgrade now.
Eurofighter Typhoon is a fourth-generation fighter jet, in use since 2003. Image credit: bomberpilot via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 2.0)
It seems like Ukraine is not going to get any modern Western jet fighters in this war. However, after Ukraine wins it will have many options for upgrading to NATO standards and hopefully it will strengthen it to a point where attacking Ukraine will seem ludicrous.
Sources: Defense-ua.com , Wikipedia