UK details billions in upgrades to Typhoon fighter jets

The Ministry of Defence has set out how it will spend £5.4 billion maintaining and upgrading the UK’s Typhoon fleet, confirming the programme covers 107 aircraft and includes new radar, communications, software, defensive aids and an upgraded helmet-mounted sight.

Conservative MP Andrew Snowden, whose Fylde constituency includes BAE Systems’ Warton site where Typhoon is built, asked for a breakdown of the £5.4 billion Typhoon capability spend detailed on page 44 of the Defence Investment Plan.

Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard replied on 8 July: “The £5.4 billion Typhoon spend detailed in the DIP comprises the planned spend to maintain and upgrade the UK’s 107 Typhoons. It includes radar, communications, and software upgrades, new defensive aids systems, and improvements to weapons systems such as the upgraded helmet mounted sight.”

The 107 figure confirms the size of the fleet the money is intended to sustain, spanning the Typhoons based at RAF Coningsby and RAF Lossiemouth that fly Quick Reaction Alert, NATO air policing and, most recently, air defence patrols alongside F-35 jets from HMS Prince of Wales during Operation Firecrest.

The radar reference points to the continued rollout of the E-Scan AESA radar across the fleet, which upgrades the aircraft’s ability to detect and track multiple targets simultaneously, while the helmet-mounted sight allows pilots to cue weapons simply by looking at a target. The Defence Investment Plan separately confirms Typhoon will be sustained and upgraded into the 2040s, remaining the backbone of UK air defence alongside the F-35 and, eventually, GCAP.

The answer, though, does not break the £5.4 billion down by individual upgrade programme or give a value for each element listed, nor does it specify a delivery timetable for the radar, communications and defensive aids work beyond the general commitment already set out in the plan.