Britain Modernising Obsolete Eurofighters with Urgently Needed Radar Upgrade

The United Kingdom Ministry of Defence has confirmed the awarding of a £453.5 million contract to produce 40 ECRS Mk2 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars, which are intended to modernise the Royal Air Force’s (RAF) Tranche 3 Eurofighter aircraft. The Eurofighter was one of the last two fighter types in the world alongside the Swedish Gripen to be produced with a mechanically scanned array radar, which seriously limited its combat performance with below average situational awareness, an underwhelming electronic warfare capability, and high vulnerability to jamming. Although the ECRS Mk2 is less sophisticated than the new AN/APG-85 radar being integrated onto the F-35 fifth generation fighters produced in the United States, it still represents a technological leap of several decades over the Eurofighter’s currently operational Captor radar. 

Where mechanically scanned array radars like the Captor rely on a single continuous radio beam, electronically scanned array radars emit multiple beams from individual electronically steered emitters, allowing for a near instantaneous scan time and simultaneous tracking, targeting, and scanning, including against very widely dispersed targets. British defence officials familiar with the latest radar upgrade have described the integration of the ECRS Mk2 as introducing a step change in detection range, electronic attack capability, and resilience in contested airspace.The Ministry of Defence has framed the procurement as a strategic response to rapidly intensifying security challenges across the Euro-Atlantic theatre, with Defence Secretary John Healey citing alleged Russian drone incursions and airspace violations along NATO’s eastern flank as a basis to argue that the procurement was “essential to ensuring the RAF remains secure at home and strong abroad for many years to come.”

Elaborating on the new radar’s performance, Leonardo’s Senior Vice President for Radar and Advanced Targeting Mark Stead observed: “ECRS Mk2 isn’t just a radar - it’s an electronic warfare powerhouse that transforms the Typhoon into a far more lethal platform against adversaries that rely heavily on radar-guided systems.” Although the new radar will revolutionise the capabilities of the Eurofighter fleet, the aircraft’s appeal to foreign clients, and to the Royal Air Force itself, will remain limited, with its capabilities being far superseded by both more capable ‘4+ generation’ fighter types, and by the F-35A fifth generation fighter. The Eurofighter has lost every tender in which it has competed against the F-35 and the F-15, from South Korea to Belgium, with obsolete mechanically scanned array radar having been but one of several major contributors to its lack of appeal. 

Although the governments of both Germany and the United Kingdom, the program’s primary development partners, have faced considerable pressure from local industry to continue placing orders and avoid purchases of the F-35A, Germany in 2022 placed its first order for the American stealth aircraft, followed by the United Kingdom in 2025. Britain in 2025 permanently shelved plans to purchase further Eurofighters, and is set to continue to withdraw them from service while ordering F-35A fighters. This deprioritisation of the Eurofighter program is reflected in the very limited number of fighters which have been financed to integrate modern radars.

European states have been forced to balance between sustaining their industries to produce less competitive fighters and maximising their combat capabilities by procuring more advanced and cost effective American fighters. Where the United Kingdom has ceased Eurofighter procurements entirely, Germany has hedged between the program and the F-35, while France has invested exclusively in its Rafale fighter and placed no orders for the F-35. The Rafale notably integrated an electronically scanned array radar 25 years ago since it entered service in 2001, and transitioned to a more advanced RBE2 AA AESA radar from 2013.