Eurofighter Typhoon

The Eurofighter Typhoon is a European multinational twin-engine, supersonic, canard delta wing multirole fighter that was designed first as an air-superiority aircraft. It is manufactured by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo, which conducts most of the project through the joint holding company Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH, while the NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency acts for the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Spain as prime customer. Development began in 1983 with the Future European Fighter Aircraft programme; France left over design authority and operational requirements and went on to build the Dassault Rafale. A technology demonstrator, the British Aerospace EAP, first flew on 6 August 1986, and a Eurofighter prototype made its maiden flight on 27 March 1994. The name Typhoon was adopted in September 1998, the aircraft entered operational service in 2003, and it made its combat debut during the 2011 intervention in Libya. It serves with the air forces of Austria, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Qatar, and Turkey has also ordered it.