The Typhoon defensive aids sub-system enhancement study contract has been awarded.
Leonardo, on behalf of the EuroDASS consortium, has received a contract from BAE Systems that will see the consortium explore the future of the Eurofighter Typhoon’s ‘Praetorian’ Defensive Aids Sub System (DASS).
The EuroDASS consortium, which comprises Leonardo, Elettronica, Indra and Hensoldt, will spend 18 months exploring future upgrades for the Eurofighter Typhoon’s electronic warfare system.
According to a release, the ‘Praetorian Long Term Evolution (LTE)’ study will lay the groundwork for future development work which will ensure that the Typhoon’s Electronic Warfare system will remain one of the most advanced in the world.
“The contract is a key part of the wider Eurofighter Typhoon LTE study, which aims to identify a suite of technology enhancements for the Eurofighter Typhoon’s weapons system infrastructure and propulsion to provide a clear road map for the future of the platform.
The Praetorian DASS is provided by the EuroDASS consortium, which comprises Leonardo, Elettronica, Indra and Hensoldt. It equips the Eurofighter Typhoon with advanced protection from threats including Infra-Red (IR or heat-seeking) and radar-guided missiles. The system is well-regarded by users and has been battle-tested on peace-keeping operations in Libya and Syria.
The LTE project will enable Eurofighter Typhoon to be a survivable and effective combat aircraft out to 2060 against a background of accelerating technology development by potential adversaries. The Praetorian Defensive Aids Sub System (DASS) is the Eurofighter Typhoon’s protection system, which integrates sensors and jamming equipment to provide exceptional situational awareness and a digital stealth capability for the aircraft, achieved through advanced electronic deception techniques. The Praetorian LTE study will evaluate potential future DASS requirements, enabling the aircraft to cope faster, easier and more affordably with new threats as they arise in the future.”
“The LTE project will enable Eurofighter Typhoon to be a survivable and effective combat aircraft out to 2060.”
Presumably only if someone orders some more before the production line finishes. It would be asking a lot surely of the airframes currently in service to run that long!
Not in British service but foreign orders as well as potential German and Spanish orders in the mid to late 2020’s will certainly still be in the air well into the 2050’s The USA seems to be giving up on 6th gen manned fighter systems so we might expect to see 4.5 gen and 5th gen fighters in the air a lot longer. Tempest or or any European effort may actually be a 5.5 generation fighter taking the best bits of the F22 and F35 in the same way that Eurofighter was the best of the teen series 4th gen… Read more »
I can see ours still being in service then. The tornado was around for 40 years and each generation gets more expensive and complex to design and so I can see the replacement taking a very very long time to arrive. For sure tempest will not be it, we will spend a load of money on the project and then cancel it and start afresh with a buy from the US or the super power of the day.
One of the US focus groups is looking at mothership controlled swarms of low cost disposable aircraft, each with an individual tasks such as missile carrier, bomb carrier or sensor carrier. The thought is to lower the operating and purchasing cost of the airframes, thus boosting the numbers through affordability. However, I don’t see how the cost of today’s radar or IR sensors will be getting any cheaper. For starters a radar’s capability is partially governed by the area of the antenna. This is one of the reasons the Captor radar’s antenna on Typhoon is so large. This allows it… Read more »
That was extremely enlightening Daveyb many thanks
@ DaveyB
I can Not see this proposed disposable aircraft, becoming a reality, there will be such a revulsion against it littering and polluting the countryside and the with anti plastic lobby there now is, I think politics will stop it. Drones need to be recoverable or there will be revulsion against them.
Possibly, but that’s what the USAF is currently investigating. I don’t see a major seismic shift in dropping manned fighters, it will be more evolutionary starting with a mix of manned/unmanned with the drones recovering to the airfield. The Kratos drone being the obvious example.
Thank you that was a very incisive and comprehensive analysis.
Is future development of the Typhoon at risk?
BAE has just withdrawn the Typhoon from the Canadian Fighter Competition.
Seemingly endless delays in upgrading Typhoons to the AESA radar.
Has BAE’s development focus already moved onto the Tempest …?
If tempest every happens it is stated that it will be an evolution of typhoon design likely with the latest engine and radar technology developed for typhoon going into a new stealthy air frame. No doubt a reason the tempest name was chosen as an evolution from the Typhoon with better wings based on the latest aero dynamics. Realistically if you took the latest CAPTOR E (V2) radar and put it in a stealthy maneuverable air-frame with an Adaptive Engine version EJ200 you would have the greatest fighter on the planet, that’s what Tempest should be. If Reaction engines sort… Read more »
Hopefully this will be thought of as a long game, with whatever system/solutions developed informed by F-35 and passed on to the Tempest programme. Thinking just inside the box of the current platform can be helpful in some ways (controlling immediate scope and costs for example), but can massively and terminally increase costs for future programmes like Tempest if the long view isn’t taken.
How come the RAF doesn’t have dedicated aircraft like the f18 growler for electronic warfare? Australia even has them.
You are right the RAF does not have dedicated electronic warfare aircraft. In fact we don’t even have a dedicated anti-radiation missile for use against radars anymore such as Alarm. A little known fact is that AMRAAM does have a passive radar mode, where it can home in on specific radar emissions. The UK does have Cobham Aviation that operates a number of Falcon 20s. These aircraft are dedicated electronic warfare aircraft. They are used as the red team adversaries by most of NATO. They can mimic most aircraft, ship or ground based radar. They can also mimic a missile… Read more »
Would we have the crews to fly them though? I assume military pilots would be needed instead of the current ( pos ex military ) crew?
Flying the aircraft is the easy bit. It’s the electronic warfare part that’s tricky. So would require someone who experienced operating the kit.The current crews would be the best option, how that works legally is another question.
Considering the advancements in materials , sensors , counter measures and potential use of the reaction engines tech to transform the current engine and it’s super cruise why not just build a typhoon 2 with stealth coating and these new features and create a 5th/6th gen hybrid asap. That would reduce the need for a complete new fighter and the decades of testing? Evolution not revolution!
Typhoon already has stealth coatings and design features for RCS reduction but the current airframe is at its limits as to what can be done. A stealthy typhoon 2 would require a complete redesign. That being said most if the cost and the time delay in F35 is its computers and sensors, a continuously upgraded typhoon with internal systems moved across to a new airframe seems to be what Tempest is about. However as with typhoon being previously described as gen 5 tempest won’t be Gen 6 unlesss it’s either hypersonic and or tailless, it would be a gen 5.5… Read more »
I have enjoyed watching the Typhoon development from the EAP, but BAE have done a lot since: Replica, JSF, Corax, Demon, Magma, Taranis. Rumours are Italy are joining Tempest.
https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/dsei/2019/09/10/italy-expected-to-join-british-tempest-combat-aircraft-program/