BAE Systems, a global defense, security and aerospace company, gave a presentation on the future capability requirements for a fighter aircraft at the 'Air Power Middle East conference' held in Doha this past week (1-2 November 2010).
Craig Penrice, Typhoon Test Pilot for Eurofighter, the world's most advanced new generation multi-role/swing-role combat aircraft available on the market, said the Eurofighter was a balanced design for today and the future.
Using Eurofighter Typhoon as the main example, the presentation outlined the current trends in the fighter aircraft marketplace before examining the genesis of Eurofighter Typhoon through detailed consideration of essential design drivers and the methods of evaluation of their relative merits.
Craig went on to describe the process of arriving at the correct balance of capabilities against national requirements before presenting the capabilities of Eurofighter Typhoon as they currently exist, such as the weapons capability, airframe design, flight control system, sensor suite and cockpit configuration.
The presentation concluded with a vision of how Eurofighter Typhoon will continue to be upgraded, including allowing dedicated requirements for export customers, throughout its long in-service life to ensure that it remains relevant and capable of defeating emerging threats and expanding mission requirements in step with maturing technologies, said a BAE Systems statement.
These include further enhancements to air superiority in the sensor and weapons suite, with the new AESA radar and air to air missile, Meteor.
BAE Systems and Eurofighter, together with other key industry players, were lead sponsors of the event, which was held with the support of the Qatar Emiri Air Force.