The Lightning/Phantom mafia loom large…
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https://x.com/GarethJennings3/status/1877700111188267134
Apparently from here, they ordered more EFTs to be delivered ~2030 with Mk0 radar but now is in limbo about the radar itself.
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We already have confirmation from the Luftwaffe that they have mounted AESA Radars to aircraft since 2023. And afaik the only one that we have that they could be referring to is the Eurofighter.
Spoiler
Translation:
Thank you for your email expressing your interest in the EUROFIGHTER weapon system and the development of the new electronically scanned radar (ESCAN radar). This email has been forwarded to us as the procurement office for your response. Tranche 4 EUROFIGHTER aircraft are scheduled to be handed over to the Air Force beginning in 2026. These aircraft will be equipped with an ESCAN radar as standard. The first installations on the first Air Force aircraft took place in 2023.
Please understand that we will not disclose any further information due to military secrecy.
Sincerely, On behalf of
Katharina Theobald
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Yes, I don’t doubt that AESA radar has been mounted for testing purposes. It’s not officially in service though until Tranche 4 for Germany.
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Yep, and the message also said the airforce is set to receive it in 2026. Not sure where their comprehension of your message went wrong lol
None of them seem to be in service with the airforce
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This is to say that I don’t mind EFTs coming into the game with AESA. But the EFT people need to calm down with the whole “fake 8 mica and hmd!!” screaming when it’s a battle they would lose cause we could easily point out that Gaijin could simply add an in-service aircraft that has those features, while same can’t be said for AESA EFT.
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Oh and my understanding also is that even after an aircraft is handed over to the air force in 2026, that doesn’t mean it’s automatically in service.
Rafale F3R was handed over to the Air Force in 2012-2013 but not put into service until 2019.
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To also further note, gaijin has rejected vehicles not in service from getting into the game, whilst the same said vehicle has been in service with a different nation is already ingame because it was literally in service. So i assume gaijin will reject any addition of eft aesa until they can get some of those efts into service lmao.
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Interesting 🤔.
Yeah, because there are no vehicles and weapons in top tier that aren’t in service /s
I mean it can… just not for the countries we have in game. Kuwait and Qatar share a total of 16 AESA-fitted in service airframes currently
as of quite a while ago, apparently. Whoops.
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Qatari ef for Israel when?/s
I’d say that having multiple aircraft with AESA for two years is more than enough to consider them in service, unless you mean having reached IOC with in service. I’m also not sure if the Bundeswehr has ever done separate received & in-service announcement for successive variants of stuff. At least I can’t find any for T2 & T3.
That isn’t how that works. Countries can have specialized testing aircraft that undergo testing with specific configurations and radars, and these testing aircraft are completely separate from what is in service for their usage. They’re often used to develop and test newer standards before being rolled out to in-service aircraft.
I would expect them to have completely separate designation, especially internally.
So is the Rafale variant in game supposed to have a HMD or no
The real in-service French Rafale F3R did not have HMD. It would be “historically accurate” if it did not get HMD in-game, but Gaijin has had a rule from before the Rafale even got added that they would give aircrafts that had “tested” HMD to get HMD.
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ok
Why so? Most eurofighter operators operate several tranches of EF simultaneously with immensely different capabilities (often still operating Tranche 1s under the exact same designation!!). They don’t even always use development aircraft for the testing - for example while CAESAR was tested on DA5 back in 2007-ish, ECRS Mk.2 was first fitted in 2024(?) to the (production) Tranche 3 ZK355/BS116 (meaning that britain, by absolute technicality, has a production eurofighter with ECRS Mk.2 in service.). This aircraft was serially produced in 2013 and practically dragged into testing the radar. It is still designated as FGR.4 unsurprisingly.
Here is the aircraft btw ^
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Doubt it tbh. We know that theres one Test aircraft for Germany that’s testing Captor-E (IPA.8), but given that the Email explicitly mentions multiple Aircraft, it has to be mounted to others as well. We also have IPA.7, but that was used for other things in the meantime and I also don’t know from the top of my head if it’s even compatible. And even then, they’re still production aircraft (Instrumented Production Aircraft).
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For Germany, was the IRST tested on the IPA aircraft?