Article Posted on : - Jul 21, 2014

Storm Shadow on Italian Eurofighter Typhoon. An MBDA photo

FARNBOROUGH (BNS): The NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency (NETMA) has awarded a contract to Eurofighter GmbH to integrate the Storm Shadow long-range air-to-ground strike missile onto the Eurofighter Typhoon combat jets.

Under the contract, signed at the Farnborough airshow on July 17, the company will integrate the cruise missile into the Eurofighter Typhoons of four partner nations -- Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK.

Eurofighter will work with the three Eurofighter partner companies -- BAE Systems, Airbus Space & Defence, and Alenia Aermacchi -- and their supply base -- including MBDA, the makers of the Storm Shadow missile - to integrate the weapon on the aircraft.

Flight trials with Storm Shadow on Typhoon have been progressing since late 2013.

According to Eurofighter GmbH, Storm Shadow is a long range, all-weather, high precision, stand-off weapon already in service with the Royal Air Force Tornado fighters. It has been proven in operations to great effect in Iraq and Libya neutralising hardened command bunkers and other high value targets.

The stealthy weapon design allows it to penetrate layered air defences whilst the long range of the missile allows it to be launched outside those defences increasing the launch aircraft survivability.

In deep attack role, each Eurofighter Typhoon will carry two Storm Shadow air-to-ground missiles whilst maintaining the ability to carry 8 air-to-air missiles. This will enable the combat jet to fight its way in and out of the combat area.