BAE Systems showcases new large area display for Eurofighter

BAE Systems has showcased for the first time the new large area display (LAD) cockpit it has developed for the Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft.

Shown publicly in early August at the Kaivopuisto Airshow 2021, where the Eurofighter was being displayed as part of its HX bid to the Finnish Air Force, the LAD has been developed as part of the multinational consortium's Long-Term Evolution (LTE) plan that is designed to place the aircraft at the forefront of military capabilities for decades to come.

BAE Systems told Janes that it has invested in the LAD as the lead company in the Eurofighter consortium for cockpit and human machine interface (HMI) development activities, with the majority of the development work done at its Warton site in northern England. “However, like all of our work, it is co-ordinated closely with our partners Airbus and Leonardo to ensure that we leverage their development activities and deliver the best product to customer. User nation pilots are closely involved in all cockpit development activities to ensure that the latest operational requirements are fully addressed,” it said.

The LAD will replace the Typhoon's current three-multifunction display (MFD) cockpit configuration with a single unit, which should massively aid with the sensor fusion required for the new datalinks, as well as for the active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar being integrated onto the aircraft.