Eurofighter Air-to-Air Weapon System Test Campaign Completed Successfully

Released on Friday, January 11, 2008

An Italian team comprising Alenia Aeronautica, the Italian Air Force Experimental Test Unit (RSV) and operational units has successfully completed a flight campaign to officially assess the effectiveness of the Eurofighter air-to-air weapon system. This test campaign is the first ever that the Italian-led Official Test Centre Armament Working Group has carried out such tests in Italy, under the supervision of the NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency (NETMA).

The results will lead to the development of effective doctrines for tactical operations as well as the "Attack & Ident" system based on the fusion of radar and sensor data. The test campaign, which was flown over the Decimomannu range in the first two weeks of December 2007, saw widespread use of the Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) and several major novelties.

These included fitting the FPR-14 Autonomous Air-Combat Manoeuvring Instrumentation (AACMI) pod to a 4th Wing aircraft and the first Italian use of the Mobile Internet Device Ground Station (MIDS) to plan complex engagements. The entire campaign was planned by the RSV. The Alenia Aeronautica Eurofighter Instrumented Preseries Aircraft no. 2 (IPA 2) made it possible to collect significant data for later study and analysis, while No. 9 Squadron gave a crucial contribution to designing the attack scenarios.

IPA2 flew about 60 hours with up to three Eurofighters provided by No. 9 Squadron/4th Wing of the ITAF. Together and against each other, the four fighters explored 25 different air-to-air scenarios, ranging from one versus one (1v1) to 1v2 and 2v2 and mainly using various modes of radar designation.