Eurofighter Typhoon Tranche 2
New computers and infrared search — the batch that made the Typhoon a true swing-role fighter · First flight 2008 · In service 2008
The Tranche 2 production contract, for 236 aircraft, was signed in December 2004. The airframe looks the same as Tranche 1, but the jets have a new mission computer and the EuroFIRST PIRATE infrared search-and-track sensor. The first Tranche 2 aircraft flew at Manching on 16 January 2008, and deliveries began in October 2008 to the UK, followed by Italy in November and Spain in December.
Capability came in software blocks: Block 10 brought an improved defensive aids suite, IFF Mode 5, IRIS-T and laser-guided bombs with the LITENING pod; Block 15 (Evolution Package 2) integrated the Meteor long-range air-to-air missile and the Taurus, Storm Shadow and Brimstone air-to-ground weapons. The RAF had 67 Tranche 2 Typhoons in 2018, and its Tranche 2 and 3 jets were brought to a common multirole standard under Project Centurion.
Saudi Arabia, which ordered 72 Typhoons, received 48 of them at the Tranche 2 build standard and the last 24 as Tranche 3; its early jets carried RAF-style ZK serials before delivery.
