A key radar upgrade being advanced for part of the UK Royal Air Force’s (RAF’s) Eurofighter Typhoon fleet has passed its latest milestone, with funding provided to start production work on long-lead items for the ECRS Mk2 sensor.

Valued at almost £205 million ($278 million), the allocation was confirmed on 13 June during a visit to Leonardo UK’s Edinburgh site by the government’s chief secretary to the treasury, Darren Jones.

“The latest tranche of funding builds on successful flight trials which concluded in February,” Leonardo says, referring to an activity with a prototype radar first flown from BAE Systems’ Warton site in Lancashire last September.

The new active electronically scanned array (AESA) is due to be installed on 40 Tranche 3 production examples of the Typhoon for the RAF by BAE, with service entry due before the end of this decade.

Leonardo says the latest funding “secures the critical long-lead elements required to manufacture the radar”.

“It comes ahead of a contract for full-rate radar production later in 2025 and delivery of radars ready for integration from 2028,” it adds.

Lyndon Hoyle, head of Typhoon delivery team at the UK’s Defence Equipment & Support organisation, says the award “reflects the growing confidence in the progress being made by UK industry… and growing maturity of the system design”.

“With modern conflict demonstrating the importance of electronic warfare to combat operations, we are proud that the UK’s onshore combat air industry is the first in Europe to offer a radar with embedded wideband suppression of enemy air defence (SEAD) capabilities through a multi-functional array,” says Mark Hamilton, Leonardo’s managing director electronics UK.

The new AESA system’s capabilities will include electronic attack and jamming functionality in the SEAD role.

“This commitment to the continued evolution of Typhoon’s capability ensures the RAF maintains its operational advantage,” says BAE Systems Air managing director Europe and international Richard Hamilton. “It also sustains the UK’s sovereign combat air skills, enabling Typhoon to secure our skies into the future”.

Leonardo says the ECRS Mk2 activity directly supports more than 400 jobs at its Edinburgh and Luton sites, and another 120 at BAE.