UK to consider extending Eurofighter service life to retain combat mas…

With mass and resilience key lessons from the ongoing war in Ukraine, the RAF is considering a service life extension for its Eurofighter Typhoons. (Crown Copyright)

The United Kingdom is considering a service life extension of its fleet of Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 combat aircraft to retain its combat mass, Janes and other defence media were told on 14 May.

Speaking at the site of BAE Systems' Warton production facility in northern England, Mike Baulkwill, combat air strategy director at the company, said that, with the international Eurofighter operator base set to fly the type for decades to come, the Royal Air Force (RAF) was looking at putting back the retirement date of its aircraft as it looks to maintain combat aircraft numbers.

“[The wider operator base] will be flying the Eurofighter out into the 2060s. The RAF is now considering an extension itself, and rightly so because it needs mass,” he said. Baulkwill provided no details as to the numbers or tranche standard of the aircraft to potentially be retained.

The RAF currently fields 30 Tranche 1, 67 Tranche 2, and 40 Tranche 3 Typhoons. The Tranche 1s are in the process of being retired and are mostly set to go by the end of 2025 (four are to be retained until 2027, likely for Falkland Islands air defence), leaving just 107 Typhoons in service until they too are currently scheduled to be retired in 2040.