Actualización de noticias del mes de julio, primera quincena.
El jefe del Grupo de Fuerzas Aéreas del Ala 46 destaca que el Eurofighter supone un considerable salto tecnológico respecto del EF-18 y además implica "una nueva forma de combatir", pues "el piloto ya no se limita a operar con los sensores de la plataforma, sino que pasa a formar parte de un ecosistema táctico conectado, donde intercambia información con otras aeronaves, sistemas de control y mandos aliados, incrementando así exponencialmente su conciencia situacional".
Así mismo, el Teniente Coronel López apunta que se espera que el 462 Escuadrón alcance su capacidad operativa inicial con el Eurofighter finales de este año, lo que implicará disponer de plena autonomía en la defensa aérea de Canarias sin necesidad de apoyo de otras unidades. La plena capacidad operativa está prevista para finales de 2028 o comienzos de 2029, que implicará la adquisición completa de la capacidad aire-superficie con estos aviones.
El Teniente Coronel Ramírez destaca que la transición al Eurofighter en el Ala 46 incluirá un simulador de este avión en la Base Aérea de Gando, que hasta ahora ni siquiera disponía de un simulador de EF-18, por lo que tenía que hacer las simulaciones en la Península. Además, al disponer de dos biplazas, se podrá también hacer el entrenamiento de conversión en Gando, base que hasta ahora no disponía de EF-18B biplazas, por lo que este proceso de entrenamiento debía hacerse con el Ala 12 en Torrejón o el Ala 15 en Zaragoza. De esta forma, el Ala 46 gana una considerable autonomía, poniéndose al nivel de las alas de caza peninsulares.
La primera unidad de Eurofighter dentro del lote Halcón I —compuesto por 16 single seater y 4 de doble mando— ya ha realizado el primer encendido de motores, según explicó Iván González. Y está previsto que comience la campaña de vuelos este mismo verano.
Actualmente, hay cuatro aparatos terminándose en la línea de ensamblaje final en Getafe y se está negociando con el Ministerio de Defensa el calendario de entregas, aunque todo apunta a que podrán transferir alguna unidad antes de finalizar el año.
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La intención de Airbus es terminar con el Halcón I en el 2030, en paralelo con el programa Quadriga de Alemania compuesto por 38 aviones que cuentan con una configuración de sistemas similar.
En cuanto a Halcón II, el pedido de Defensa se compone de 21 monomando y 4 de doble mando y tienen previsto comenzar a entregarse en 2030, justo después del Halcón I, y terminar en 2033.
Se trata de un "plan de entregas comprimido" en el tiempo si se compara con el de Halcón I. El Ministerio de Defensa "nos ha pedido que el ritmo se incremente a 5 aviones por año".
Iván González explica que el bloque de configuración es el P3Ec para ambos casos.
Una de las novedades más importantes es la integración de los radares de escaneo electrónico (AESA) a bordo de los cazas.
Según las previsiones, todos los aparatos pertenecientes al lote Halcón I integrarán un sistema radar recortado, a medio camino entre el Mk0 y el Mk1 Step 1 que finalmente incorporarán a partir del 2030, tal y como adelantó EL ESPAÑOL hace unos días.
Lo más descorazonador es que incluso los H2 se van a entregar con la configuración actual, la P3Ec. Supuestamente tendrían que venir con la P4E(A), que ya incorporaba una gestión mejorada del AESA, pero ni eso. Esto implica que tan pronto como se entreguen haberá que pasar por caja y volverlos al hangar a actualizar. Y si viene la P4E(B) / LTE otra vez.
“I remember we were coming back when suddenly we were tasked with identifying an unknown aircraft flying at medium level. It was evening, and the sunlight was turning red in the west.”
Within moments, a standard recovery became an operational intercept. “We received the tracks via Link 16 and within seconds had them on our radar. We proceeded to intercept. As we approached, our FLIR image revealed seven aircraft flying in close formation.”
The situation quickly clarified. “It was the Patrulla Aguila returning home from an airshow in France. We escorted them back to San Javier air base.”
Vídeo oficial donde se aprecia que solo encienden un motor: https://x.com/AirbusDefence/status/2072938454082555983
Más detalles del salto: https://x.com/Web_AME/status/2075119106236305743
The Real Radar Remains One of the Greatest Challenges
Despite remarkable advances in simulation, transitioning from a simulated radar to the real system remains one of the most demanding aspects of operational conversion.
Synthetic scenarios are carefully controlled and predictable. In the real operational environment, pilots must deal with a much larger volume of information and with phenomena that cannot be perfectly replicated.
While not referenced in the 30 June spending report, a senior defence official confirms that the UK will no longer support a mid-life upgrade for MBDA’s Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile.
The UK and France on 1 April announced a memorandum of understanding to begin studying a joint successor for the Meteor, with an initial 12-month activity to “assess the future threat landscape and develop new missile concepts capable of meeting the challenges of air warfare in the coming decades”.
WARTON, England—BAE Systems is conceptualizing how to control and direct collaborative combat aircraft in battle using the wide-area display planned for the Eurofighter Typhoon.
As part of its work developing the fighter’s new cockpit layout and associated unified mission computer, the company has been trialing approaches that would allow the pilot to command the uncrewed systems without a significant increase in workload.
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The concept control system currently being tested in ground-based simulators here would allow the Eurofighter pilot to command individual CCAs. But Mallery-Blythe showed journalists how four CCAs could be commanded with just a few button switches on the hands-on throttle-and-stick controls to conduct their own “sort” of adversaries by drawing a kill box onto a moving map display. Having received the commands, the CCAs decide—in combination with a new, unified mission computer also planned for the Eurofighter—which targets that each should engage. Once the sort is complete and targets allocated, the human pilot gives the final approval for weapons release.
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BAE Systems says the work is part of wider efforts to accelerate CCA technology by exploring the best way to control them. The company strongly believes that the introduction of the wide-area display and the unified mission computer, which is 200 times more powerful than the mission computers currently installed on the aircraft, is key to enabling these capabilities.
BAE Systems was contracted in 2024 to begin technology maturation in support of the Eurofighter’s long-term evolution, but it is not currently a program of record. Plans today call for installing the two elements in a second stage of the Phase 4 Enhancements (P4E) upgrade program, to be called P4E(B). P4E(A) is best known as the upgrade that will introduce both the Mk.1 and Mk.2 active, electronically scanned array radars and task-based radar operation. Mallery-Blythe said that operation of the new radars will be significantly improved with the introduction of the wide-area display, increasing situational awareness in crowded airspace in particular.
He noted that the three 6 X 6-in. displays in the current Eurofighter cockpit make it difficult to understand the “big picture” because pilots must constantly look down, zoom in and out of the display, and open menus.
BAE’s approach to CCA operation is platform- and communication-system-agnostic. Still, the company last year tested use of Link 16 to send commands to a CCA during trials with QinetiQ.
The company’s briefings took place ahead of the UK government’s announcement that it planned to spend £300 million ($400 million) on a CCA program that could field a demonstration by 2030.
He went on to explain, “It includes radar, communications, and software upgrades, new defensive aids systems, and improvements to weapons systems such as the upgraded helmet-mounted sight.”
The comments were in answer to a question by Conservative MP Andrew Snowden, whose constituency includes Warton, where BAE Systems builds the Typhoon fighter jet. He asked for a breakdown on the increased £5.4 billion figure slated for the Typhoons in the Defence Investment Plan.
The January Government plan had stated, “The investment will deliver an additional 40 advanced European Common Radar System (ECRS) Mk2 radars for RAF Typhoons, including 38 new systems and modifications to two test systems, ensuring radars will be fitted to 40 aircraft.”
These funds are to be spread out over the four years from FY 2026/2027 to FY 2029/2030. The Typhoon fleet is receiving a further £1.1 billion to upgrade and sustain the fleet into the 2040s, including through the Long Term Evolution programme. The Typhoon fleet is to continue to be the core of the combat air capability into the 2040s.
Service boss Air Chief Marshal Harv Smyth wants an operational concept demonstrator to be flying alongside a Eurofighter Typhoon as soon as the 2027 edition of NATO’s Steadfast Defender exercise. An operational capability should then be in service before the end of this decade. Smyth wants to see several iterations and enhancements of RAF CCA platforms by the time the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) fighter enters service in the late 2030s.
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