IFC 2025: Eurofighter prepares to mark one million flight hours as programme prepares for second half of operational life

Eurofighter showcased one of the advanced capabilities earmarked for the Eurofighter under the MLU now being defined, with a model at the IQPC IFC 2025 event in Rome showing the aircraft operating in concert with a Valkyrie unmanned combat aerial vehicle. (Janes/Gareth Jennings)

The Eurofighter consortium is preparing to mark the one million flight hour milestone for the programme at the same time as preparing the ‘fourth-generation' combat aircraft for the second half of its projected operational service life.

A briefing slide presented at the IQPC International Fighter Conference (IFC) 2025 in Rome noted that the flight hour milestone is due to be passed in December, while Eurofighter CEO Jorge Tamarit Degenhardt outlined aspects of the mid-life upgrade (MLU) that is now being defined with the goal of taking the jet out into the 2060s.

The Eurofighter entered operational service with the German Luftwaffe in 2004, with aircraft for fellow partner countries Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom following shortly after. Since then, export aircraft have been delivered to Austria, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.

The original programme of record for the Eurofighter partner countries of 160 aircraft for the UK, 143 for Germany, 96 for Italy, and 73 for Spain was concluded in January 2020, at which time export orders of 15 aircraft for Austria, 12 for Oman, and 72 for Saudi Arabia had already been satisfied. Deliveries of 28 aircraft for Kuwait and 24 for Qatar followed. It is the combination of these airframes that took the Eurofighter out to its 500,000 flight hour milestone in November 2018.