UK awards initial funding for Eurofighter ECRS Mk 2 radar production and integration

The ECRS Mk 2 radar fitted to a Eurofighter Typhoon during ground-based testing. The UK has now awarded initial funding for its production and integration aboard a portion of the RAF's fleet. (BAE Systems)

The United Kingdom has awarded GBP204.6 million (USD277.3 million) in initial funding to build and integrate the Leonardo European Common Radar System (ECRS) Mk 2 aboard Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF).

The funding was announced by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Darren Jones, on 13 June, during a visit to Leonardo's Edinburgh facility in Scotland.

“The latest tranche of funding builds on successful flight trials, which concluded in February. It secures the critical long-lead elements required to manufacture the radar, drawing on a UK-wide supply chain. It comes ahead of a contract for full-rate radar production later in 2025 and delivery of radars ready for integration from 2028. The ECRS Mk 2 is on track to go into service with the RAF by the end of the decade,” Leonardo said.

The RAF is to equip its 40 Tranche 3-standard Typhoons with the ECRS Mk 2, which is the UK-specific version of a series of active electronically scanned array (AESA)/electronically scanned (E-Scan) radars being developed for the partner and export customers of the Eurofighter.

The radar is billed as offering a significant capability leap, particularly in the fields of electronic warfare (EW) and electronic attack (EA). Initial operating capability (IOC) is scheduled for 2030, which is defined as being “a robust capability” ready to go to war.

For more information on the ECRS radar series, please seeSpecial Report: BAE Systems prepares for first flight milestones for enhanced Typhoon .