Farnborough 2024: BAE Systems looking to accelerate LAD cockpit for Eurofighter

BAE Systems is looking to accelerate the development and fielding of its large area display for the Eurofighter Typhoon, which currently remains a company-funded project. (BAE Systems)

BAE Systems is looking at potentially accelerating development of its large area display (LAD) cockpit for the Eurofighter Typhoon.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the Farnborough International Airshow 2024 running from 22 to 26 July, Andrew Mallery-Blythe, Typhoon operational requirements manager and test pilot at BAE Systems, said the aim is to try and have the LAD included in the upcoming Phase 4 Enhancement (P4E) upgrade package that is to be rolled out in the late 2020s.

“We are looking to see if the LAD could be brought forward to be put in the P4E architecture,” Mallery-Blythe said at the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) on 19 July, adding, “Currently, the team working on it does not believe there is a technical reason why it could not be brought forward.”

The LAD is one of three primary upgrades being developed for the Eurofighter, with the other two being the Leonardo European Common Radar System (ECRS) Mk 2 E-Scan radar and the BAE Systems Striker II helmet-mounted display (HMD). However, while the ECRS Mk 2 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar and the Striker II HMD have been contracted for operation aboard the jet in 2030 and 2028, respectively, the LAD remains a company-funded effort.

As Mallery-Blythe told Janes and other defence media during a tour of the company's Warton production and development facility in May, the Eurofighter's current cockpit that displays sensor and flight information to the pilot via three multifunction displays (MFDs) is no longer up to the task.