Eurofighter Block 8(2008) radar AG capabilities?

[Hammer1231]

Hi,There!The Eurofighter Tranche 2 Block 8 of 2008 has always been described as having only AA capability, not AG capability. Although some sources indicate that the Block 8 lacks AG gun and AG weapon capabilities, I have always been somewhat confused about the actual situation regarding "lacking AG capability": For the T2 Block 8, does this mean that the pilot cannot enter any AG radar modes other than RBGM? Or does it simply mean that the pilot cannot use AG weapons, but is fully free to use the full radar AG mode?

 

[F-2]

https://eurofighter.airpower.at/fertigung-t-b-b.htm

not sure how accurate the above is

In the block II manuals I’ve read there are no air to air modes other than RBGM, Block 8 would have Captor-D rather then C but I don’t know when the software for a2g modes was added. I do know the hardware was correct I just don’t know if the modes where developed when Block 8 was a thing.


@Scorpion82 would be your best bet

 

[Hammer1231]

Hi,There!The Eurofighter Tranche 2 Block 8 of 2008 has always been described as having only AA capability, not AG capability. Although some sources indicate that the Block 8 lacks AG gun and AG weapon capabilities, I have always been somewhat confused about the actual situation regarding "lacking AG capability": For the T2 Block 8, does this mean that the pilot cannot enter any AG radar modes other than RBGM? Or does it simply mean that the pilot cannot use AG weapons, but is fully free to use the full radar AG mode?

Thank you for your reply, Sir! Regarding the specific AG radar capabilities of Block 2, I have found the following relevant information:

"AG modes including RBGM, DBS, FTT, GMTI/T, SSS, TA and A/S TWS.There were inly differences in the clearance of using different AG modes, but the modes were implemented in the software and could be used.AG modes were available since R2L radar software as part of the SRP2 IOC standard introduced with T1 Block 2 aircraft.Even in NAV or A/A the pilot can select AG radar modes.The pilot could select AG radar modes on the Attack format."

This is truly strange... It seems that the statement implies all AG modes were already available in Block 2. I have also read the Block 2 manual from 2005, and indeed, the Attack Format only shows one RBGM mode, which the pilot can select only between navigation mode and air-to-air mode. However, the materials I found explicitly mention “AG radar modes” rather than “AG radar mode.” If we reason based on all the current facts, the only explanation that fits is the phrase mentioned in the materials: “different AG modes have different clearance levels.” That is, the “AG radar modes” mentioned in the materials refer to the radar software itself, not the AG radar modes actually operable by the pilot. Other AG radar modes may already exist in the radar software, but due to lack of clearance or other reasons, they cannot be accessed during actual pilot operation. But I still can't be sure whether this is the case for Block 8, as information on SRP 5.0 is largely unavailable...

 

[Scorpion82]

A/S radar mode selection on the Typhoon is not tied to the A/S PoF. You can select radar modes independent of the PoF from the ATCK format. On A/A format only the RBGM SK is shown, once you press it and the A/S ATCK is displayed with RBGM selected, the SKs reconfigure and allow selection of other A/S modes and corresponding functions. The de-coupling of PoF and radar modes allowed the use of A/S radar modes on AA only capable Typhoon capability standards (SRP1 to 4.0 & 5.0). A/S PoF is required to perform ground attacks though and was first introduced with SRP 4.1. SRP 5.0 for Block 8 was baselined on SRP 4.0 without A/S PoF, as its corresponding software was sufficiently mature in time when the avionic software conversion was started to comply with the new processing hardware on Block 8 aircraft. The R2M radar software included with SRP 4.0 and 4.1 was converted to run on the new Captor-D hardware, but provides the same modes and functions at SRP 5.0. Due to the lack of A/S PoF implementation Block 8 and 8B aircraft weren't ground attack capable, but the A/S radar modes were nevertheless available, as on earlier T1 capability standards.

And no airpower.at isn't entirely correct, should be selfexplaining by the use of EOC nomenclature superseded by Phase Enhancements. The website was great in its time, but that was in 2002! Consider the actual state of the programme at that time...

 

[Hammer1231]

A/S radar mode selection on the Typhoon is not tied to the A/S PoF. You can select radar modes independent of the PoF from the ATCK format. On A/A format only the RBGM SK is shown, once you press it and the A/S ATCK is displayed with RBGM selected, the SKs reconfigure and allow selection of other A/S modes and corresponding functions. The de-coupling of PoF and radar modes allowed the use of A/S radar modes on AA only capable Typhoon capability standards (SRP1 to 4.0 & 5.0). A/S PoF is required to perform ground attacks though and was first introduced with SRP 4.1. SRP 5.0 for Block 8 was baselined on SRP 4.0 without A/S PoF, as its corresponding software was sufficiently mature in time when the avionic software conversion was started to comply with the new processing hardware on Block 8 aircraft. The R2M radar software included with SRP 4.0 and 4.1 was converted to run on the new Captor-D hardware, but provides the same modes and functions at SRP 5.0. Due to the lack of A/S PoF implementation Block 8 and 8B aircraft weren't ground attack capable, but the A/S radar modes were nevertheless available, as on earlier T1 capability standards.

And no airpower.at isn't entirely correct, should be selfexplaining by the use of EOC nomenclature superseded by Phase Enhancements. The website was great in its time, but that was in 2002! Consider the actual state of the programme at that time...

Thank you very much for your reply, Sir! That makes everything perfectly clear. The radar AG mode is always available; it’s just that weapon deployment is not possible.