A Spanish Eurofighter Typhoon jet equipped with the European Common Radar System (ECRS) E-Scan radar has conducted its first test flight.
This follows after Airbus integrated the radar into the latest generation of Spain’s Eurofighter “Halcón” fleet to enhance their capabilities in multimode air-to-air and air-to-ground operations.
Designed for the Eurofighter
While Airbus did not specify which ECRS variant was tested in its announcement, it was likely to be the ECRS Mk 1 designed for Spanish and German fleets.
The Mk1 is an advanced variant that improved on earlier systems, such as the baseline Mk0 that was jointly developed by Hensoldt, Indra, and Leonardo and integrated into Kuwait and Qatar’s Eurofighter fleet.
Meanwhile, the Mk1 is fitted with enhancements that enable electronic warfare capabilities, including a multi-channel receiver, wider field of regard, improved target recognition, and an enhanced detection range.
It is being installed in Spain’s latest batch of Eurofighter Typhoons, as part of Project Halcón, which aims to replace its EF-18 Hornets.
Additionally, the Mk1 will be equipped on the German Quadriga fleet and retrofitted into older Luftwaffe aircraft.
In September, the ECRS Mk2 was flown on the Royal Air Force Eurofighter combat jet for the first time.
