Eurofighter Typhoon
ICAO EUFIEurope's four-nation fighter, and one of the few fighters that regularly transmits ADS-B. Live Typhoon positions.
Flying right now
Live · 30sAirframe
- Manufacturer
- Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo
- Role
- Multirole fighter
- Class
- L2J — Landplane, 2 jet engines
- Crew
- 1, or 2 in the trainer
- First flight
- 27 March 1994
- In service
- 2003
Operators airborne
About the Eurofighter Typhoon
The Typhoon is the product of Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain building a fighter together, a process that took long enough to become a byword for the difficulty of doing so. The result is a genuinely capable aircraft: over 600 built, and the backbone of European air defence alongside the F-35.
It shows up on ADS-B more than most fighters, because several of its operators mandate transponder use for peacetime flying in shared airspace. British, German, Italian and Spanish aircraft appear here, as do Austrian ones, and quick reaction alert scrambles are occasionally visible.
Austria, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Qatar are the export customers, and Turkey and Poland have both moved toward orders.
Callsign prefixes
- RRR
- Ascot — Royal Air Force
- GAF
- German Air Force
- IAM
- Italian Air Force
- AME
- Spanish Air and Space Force
How to recognise it
- —A delta wing with separate canard foreplanes ahead of it, beside the cockpit.
- —Two engines with a single fin, and a chin intake below the nose.
- —The canard-delta layout separates it immediately from an F-16 or F-35.
Common questions
+ Which countries fly the Typhoon?
The four partner nations — the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Spain — plus Austria, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Qatar. Around 600 have been delivered.
+ Why do Typhoons appear on ADS-B when other fighters do not?
Because several European operators require transponder use for routine flying in busy shared airspace. It is a national rule rather than anything about the aircraft.
+ Is the Typhoon better than the F-35?
They are built for different things. The Typhoon is faster, climbs harder and carries more; the F-35 is stealthy and built around sensor fusion. Several air forces are buying both deliberately.