Douglas Barrie/LONDON
THE FIRST FLIGHT of a two-seat Eurofighter EF2000, the CASA-built development aircraft (DA) 6, has been delayed by around six months because of a hitch in the completion of the next release of flight-control software.
The latest release of the 2A software was due by the end of 1995, but programme officials admit that this has slipped. The Spanish-assembled DA6 is now scheduled to be flown in the third quarter of 1996.
Despite the latest delay, the EF2000 industrial partners are more optimistic about the programme following the resolution of the workshare dispute between Germany and the UK.
Germany is now proposing to buy an additional 40 EF2000s, dedicated to the strike role, to replace some of its Panavia Tornados, in addition to its stated requirement for 140 air-defence fighters.
The formal draft of request for quotation four, which covers the number and cost of the aircraft to be procured, has now been released. The Eurofighter industrial partners are scheduled to respond in March. A go-ahead for the production-investment phase is now expected in the latter half of this year.
Software release 2A will allow the aircraft's flight envelope to be expanded to a 25¡ angle of attack (AoA) and will increase the G limit. The phase 1 software upgrade for the first three single-seat EF2000 prototypes limits the aircraft to a 20¡ AoA and 6G.
The EF2000 will have its international air show debut at Berlin in May, with Daimler-Benz Aerospace's DA1 being flown. British Aerospace's DA2 will be flown at Farnborough in September.
The Royal Air Force is now expected to have its first squadron of air-defence EF2000s in service by 2004, while the first strike variants are scheduled to enter front-line service around 2008.
Source: Flight International
