The Luftwaffe’s Wittmundhafenbased Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 71 (TLG 71) ‘Richthofen’ commenced operations with the Tranch 3A version of the Eurofighter on March 1. Eurofighter 31+44 (c/n GS0104) arrived at the base from Airbus Defence’s factory at Manching Air Base on January 11, the first Tranche 3A delivered to TLG 71 configured to the latest standard with improved air-to-surface capabilities. Until then, TLG71 had a mixed inventory of mainly Tranche 2 jets and a handful of Tranche 1s.
Until mid 2017, Luftwaffe Tranche 3A aircraft were exclusively directed to TLG 31 ‘Boelcke’ at Nörvenich Air Base, which took delivery of its 13th Tranche 3A-configured jet (serial 31+41, c/n GS0101) on October 23, 2017. TLG 31’s Eurofighters were declared operational in the air-toground role on December 18, and are assigned to the NATO Reaction Force in that role throughout this year. The Luftwaffe’s other Eurofighter wings, TLG 73 ‘Steinhoff’ at Laage and TLG 74 at Neuburg, received a single Tranche 3A aircraft in the second half of 2017 as well. In both cases, the jets involved were two-seaters: 31+25 (c/n GT0028) arrived at Neuburg on August 10, 2017, and 31+24 (c/n GT0027) at Laage on November 13, 2017. By early March, another 14 Tranche 3A aircraft were scheduled for delivery to the Luftwaffe, to complete its order for 140 Eurofighters. A further three – including the first Tranche 3A two-seater 98+08 (c/n GT0026, serial 31+23 not taken up) – are operated by the Bundeswehr’s Wehrtechnische Dienststelle 61 (WTD 61) at Manching.
