UK retires Tranche 1 Eurofighters

The RAF has now retired all but four of its remaining Tranche 1 Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft, leaving 107 Tranche 2 and Tranche 3 airframes in service. (Janes/Patrick Allen)

The United Kingdom has retired from service most of its remaining early model Tranche 1 Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft, retaining only a small number to provide air defence for the country's South Atlantic territories.

The long-heralded retirement, which began in increments from 2015, was concluded on 31 March, with the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirming to Janes the formal withdrawal of most of the last of the Royal Air Force's (RAF's) original fleet of 53 Tranche 1 Typhoons.

With 49 aircraft in the official inventory at the time of retirement, the MoD said that four will remain on quick reaction alert duties with 1435 Flight in the Falkland Islands until 2027, 10 will be used for spares for the remaining Tranche 2 and Tranche 3 aircraft, 17 will be disposed of, 12 will be in storage for disposal, four will be used for ground training aids, and two are being considered for sale.

The Tranche 1 aircraft first entered service in 2003, and without the more advanced avionics and mission systems of later tranches were only supposed to remain operational for about 20 years. However, with the RAF facing a ‘fighter gap' between the withdrawal of the Panavia Tornado GR4 fleet and the building up of the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning fleet, it was decided in the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) of 2015 that the Tranche 1 fleet would be extended until 2040 to add much-needed combat mass.