Early 2023 media reports suggested Great Britain was considering providing a small number of their Eurofighter Typhoon fighters to Ukraine. The aircraft in question belongs to the oldest Tranche 1 modification. However, the UK Defense Ministry has clarified the prospects of these aircraft, UK Defence Journal reports.
"Since February 2022 no Tranche 1 Typhoon aircraft have been retired from RAF service or donated to Ukraine. The Tranche 1 fleet will undergo a Reduce to Produce program to strip them of usable parts to contribute to the Typhoon fleets spares inventory," defense official James Cartlidge stated in a written answer to an inquiry from the parliament.
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That is, the British military is planning to decommission all their 30 Typhoon Tranche 1 fighters, of which 26 will be withdrawn from service and scrapped by 2025, while the other four will remain active till 2027 to play aggressors during drills.
Worth noting, a dedicated Defence Select Committee had previously requested an analysis from BAE Systems regarding the feasibility of upgrading Typhoon Tranche 1 aircraft, since scrapping 30 jets will be a significant decrease in the Royal Air Force numbers, reducing the total Typhoon fleet to 107 aircraft.
The company replied that upgrading the fighters to Tranche 2 or Tranche 3 standards was technically possible, and reported that all the data on required structural and avionic modifications, including ground attack capabilities, was handed over to the ministry.
However, the British defense authorities did not submit a request for the upgrade, potentially due to cost considerations or other strategic reasons.
Eurofighter Typhoon Tranche 1 aircraft are considered to have basic air defense capabilities and are equivalent to the Initial Operational Capability level. These aircraft lack certain features found in later Tranche versions, such as the ability to use Meteor air-to-air missiles.
Earlier Defense Express reported that preparations for the transfer of the first batch of F-16 multirole fighter jets from the Netherlands to Ukraine are underway, with 18 units expected to be transferred.
Read more: Preparation for Transfer of First 18 F-16s From the Netherlands to Ukraine Has Begun
