The United Kingdom is in the process of decommissioning Eurofighter Typhoons, which are the oldest version of Tranche 1. Their potential to reinforce the Ukrainian Air Force has been discussed from time to time, but London’s latest known stance remains unchanged – they will not be transferred.
Thanks to a report by The Times, the real fate of these aircraft has been revealed, perfectly explaining this decision. It details the fate of all 49 British Eurofighter Tranche 1 fighters.
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According to the publication, 17 of them have already been written off, while another 11 remain in storage. One fighter jet is to be disposed of in the near future. Another 10 will be dismantled for spare parts. Four of them will be used to train technicians. Only two can be sold abroad.
All of this should happen during 2025. Four more Eurofighter jets were sent to the Falkland Islands, remaining part of the Royal Air Force. Other sources say that this decision will be made by 2027.
The actual condition of these aircraft makes it impossible to use them, not only for the Royal Air Force, despite the worsening security situation. Out of the 49 Eurofighters, only 2 can be sold. This is despite the fact that Turkey was reportedly not opposed to buying used fighters, in an amount of around 40 units. However, the British are interested in selling new aircraft to maintain the production capacity of the BAE Systems plant.
It should also be understood that the Eurofighter Typhoon Tranche 1, in service since 2002, is an aircraft with very limited combat capabilities compared to the later variants. It is essentially an air defense fighter with inferior weapons. In particular, from the late 2000s to the early 2010s, British Tranche 1 aircraft were upgraded to Block 5, which is considered fully operational for air-to-air and initial air-to-ground missions.
It was capable of using AIM-120, AIM-9L, and ASRAAM missiles (according to some sources, also IRIS-T, though there are doubts about its integration into British aircraft). Ground targets could be attacked using Paveway II and GBU-16 guided bombs, thanks to the Litening III targeting pod. The Meteor missile was integrated in 2018 in the Tranche 2 Block 15.
In other words, the existing Eurofighter Tranche 1 is of questionable value to the Royal Air Force. However, upgrading them to modern variants proved to be very costly, and the idea was eventually abandoned. As it turns out, the issue of how many of these aircraft can still be considered combat-ready is preventing them from being transferred or sold to another country.
Earlier Defense Express reported about mysterious British Gravehawk, designed specially for Ukraine.
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