The Luftwaffe’s Eurofighters are no longer flying exclusively air-to-air tasks. As Dr Stefan Petersen discovered, they are now also operating in the air-to-surface role with precision-guided bombs.
The Eurofighter has been operating as a multi-purpose jet in Luftwaffe hands for almost two years now, finally cleared for both air-to-air and air-tosurface missions.
Oberstleutnant (Lt Col) Danilo Schlag of Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 31 ‘Boelcke’ (TaktLwG 31 ‘B’) explained: “At the start of 2018, a module of [TaktLwG 31 ‘B’], consisting of six multi-role Eurofighters, was assigned to the NATO Response Force [NRF] and remained there throughout 2019.” Schlag is the commanding officer (CO) of the wing, based in Nörvenich near Cologne. “In addition, a further module of multi-role Eurofighters from TaktLwG 74 in Neuburg was also assigned in 2019 as part of the NRF,” he added.
Pioneer work
Back at the end of 2016, TaktLwG 31 ‘B’ had been tasked with the lead role in introducing the Eurofighter’s air-to-surface capability. “We had to start by evaluating what type of missions the German Eurofighters could take on in the air-to-surface role given their weapons and configuration,” explained Schlag. After initia…
