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Credit: German Air Force
Germany has formally established its new Eurofighter National Test and Development Center ahead of the introduction of the first Tranche 4 model aircraft.
The unit, based at Manching, Bavaria, brings together personnel from the German Air Force, the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support defense materiel agency and the German test unit, WTD 61, to operate a fleet of instrumented Eurofighters that will be used to further develop the platform’s capabilities more rapidly than was previously possible.
The unit will take a lead in introducing the Tranche 4 model aircraft into service, given its more advanced capabilities. These capabilities include the active, electronically scanned array radar, the Mk. 1 European Common Radar System and the electronic attack and suppression and destruction of enemy air defense (SEAD/DEAD) task, which will be performed by the Eurofighter EK—the SEAD/DEAD version currently in development.
The unit will also make use of the System and Teaming Advanced Research (STAR) demonstrator, a two-seat Eurofighter modified with a decoupled rear cockpit that will be able to control uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) using data links and communication systems fitted into a pod underneath the fighter jet.
STAR will support the national development of systems for the operation of uncrewed adjuncts or remote carriers, the UAS that will operate alongside crewed combat aircraft in the future.
Opening the facility on April 8, Gen. Gunter Katz, chief of the German Air Force Command, said the center’s formation was part of an urgent need to “restore combat readiness.”
“This means being equipped [such] that we can meet potential adversaries on equal terms, and ideally, be one step ahead of them," Katz said.
The goal of the unit is to pool expertise to “streamline and accelerate processes,” German Air Force officials said.
One Tranche 2 model aircraft and one Tranche 3—both twin-seat and instrumented—have already been assigned to the unit, with two more to follow.
Germany currently has 38 Tranche 4s on order which will be used to replace the Tranche 1s, for which upgrades are difficult and costly.
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