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http://aviationweek.com/defense/mult...lity-expansion
A Multipronged Plan Takes Shape For Typhoon Capability Expansion
Eight months after formally declaring Project Centurion—the name given to the RAF’s up-arming of the fighter with additional air-to-ground and long-range air-to-air weaponry—operational, a new round of upgrades is being tested for the UK fleet of Tranche 2 and 3 jets.......
The newest upgrades build on that Centurion work with tweaks to the man-machine interface based on feedback from crews using Centurion on the front lines over Iraq and Syria. The RAF also plans to introduce the Rafael Litening 5 targeting pod, which features a higher-fidelity sensor that allows targets to be identified from extended ranges. The pod is undergoing flight testing on an aircraft borrowed from the RAF, and is expected to reach the front line early next year, says Flynn.
Work is also underway to enhance the aircraft’s Passive Infrared Airborne Track Equipment (Pirate), the Typhoon’s infrared search and track sensor mounted just ahead of the cockpit. Typhoon operators have struggled with the system’s reliability, but Flynn says the team is taking a “fly-fix-fly” approach to improving the sensor’s “reliability and robustness,” with the upgrade introducing a passive nighttime detection capability.
British Typhoons will also be fitted with a new
Saab-developed smart dispenser system—replacing the dispensing systems embedded in a fairing beneath the wing—whose development is expected to be completed next year. Saab officials say this will be more closely integrated into the defensive aids system and will prepare the aircraft for active decoys such as the Leonardo-made BriteCloud.......
the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) project, beginning with a €53.7 million ($60 million) 19-month study, announced at the Paris Air Show, to look at the next upgrade steps for the aircraft and its Eurojet
EJ200 engine, as well as the aircraft’s avionics and defensive aids system.
This work, however, is separate from the ongoing Phase Enhancement program, the most recent of which, P3E(a), integrated the Brimstone missile.
The next step is P3E(b), which will deliver the capability to use the new Captor-E active, electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, the first customer for which will be Kuwait...... P3E(b) also gives the aircraft the ability to drop Mk. 82 and Mk. 83 dumb bombs, a Kuwaiti requirement.
A P3E(c) enhancement program is also in the works, but few details have emerged on what it contains. The same goes for the long-awaited P4E upgrade. That is planned to be embodied in the fleet around 2024, but will likely pave the way for adding more capable versions of the AESA radar such as the so-called Radar 2 desired by the UK.......