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DRITICH ROYAL AID FORCE EUROFIGHTER TYPHOON ... WarLens X Why the Eurofighter Typhoon Has Given Britain Unprecedented Power \| NATO in Panic PLAY YOUTUBE VIDEO Original article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18nucDejMNo
Why the Eurofighter Typhoon Has Given Britain Unprecedented Power \| NATO in Panic WarLens X 98 subscribers Jan 4, 2026 Why the Eurofighter Typhoon Has Given Britain Unprecedented Power \| NATO in Panic • Why the Eurofighter Typhoon Has Given Brit... How this was made Altered or synthetic content Sound or visuals were significantly edited or digitally generated. Learn more Peter Burgess COMMENTARY I have known since early childhood about the invention of radar by RCA in the UK and its deployment in World War II. During my accountancy training with Cooper Brothers in the UK, I worked on the audit of RCA. We were assigned to work in a large empty warehouse space that had been used decades before for the development of radar. Some ancient electronic 'junk' was still in in some of the old desks! Fascinating. At the time, RCA was still a powerful company. Sadly, Britain was no longer a strong rich country, thanks to the enormous financial cost of WWII most of which was borne by the British economy and the British taxpayers! The USA helped fund much of the WWII war effort, but did it largely with lend-lease funding which required repayment in full with interest. Effectively this bankrupted Britain and enriched the United States ... a process that was ongoing for a long time after the hot war ended. I thought the lend-lease repayments from the UK to the USA lasted into the 1960s, but recently I have seen reference to these payments ongoing into the 2000s! I chose to migrate from the UK to Canada, and subsequently to the United States in the 1960s. At that time, my employment in the USA paid me more for two months work than I could earn in a year in the UK. I was ... am ... an economic migrant ... pure and simple. Fast forward, though, and it is now getting clearer that the global economic landscape has changed with the USA losing wealth and power. Thanks to Trump this change is accelerating ... but the change is much bigger than 'just Trump'. It is interesting that the Great Britain has emerged once again as a serious military ... air force, navy and army albeit quite small but with a very powerful punch! Peter Burgess Transcript 0:00 27th September 2024. Wharton Aerodrome, Lancashire. 6:30 in the morning. Gray skies, drizzle, typical British autumn weather. But inside BAE Systems flight test facility, something extraordinary is about to happen. Typhoon test aircraft ZK355 sits on the tarmac. From the outside, it looks like any other Typhoon. Same Delta Canard configuration, same twin engines, same sleek profile. But inside, hidden behind the nose cone, sits something that will change everything. ECRS Mark 2, European common radar system, Mark 2. The world's most advanced combat air radar, designed in Edinburgh. Built in Britain, tested in 1:00 Lancashire, completely British. Andy Holden, radar delivery director at BAE Systems, three decades in aerospace, responsible for this entire program, isn't at Wharton. He's at home in his office refreshing his phone, waiting, praying. Because this is the first flight. The moment when years of work, billions of pounds, hundreds of engineers, thousands of hours, faces the ultimate test. Does it work? 6:35. The pilot climbs in. Systems activate. The ECRS M2 powers up. Andy's phone buzzes. Text message from the test team. All systems nominal. Preparing for takeoff. 642. Typhoon ZK355 rolls down the runway, accelerates, lifts, climbs into the gray Lancasher 2:02 sky, and Andy Holden, sitting 200 m away, finally breathes. Later, he'll say, 'It's one of those moments you don't forget, knowing that years of effort culminated in that first flight is indescribable. It's a privilege to be part of a program delivering game-changing capabilities for the Typhoon. Gamechanging. That word gets thrown around constantly in defense. Every new missile is gamechanging. Every upgrade is revolutionary. Every system is unprecedented. But this time, this time it's true. Because ECRS M2 doesn't just detect enemy aircraft, it attacks them electronically. It doesn't just see enemy radars, it jams them. It doesn't just track targets. It dominates the electromagnetic spectrum across ranges that adversaries struggle to match. And it's British, not American, not 3:03 multinational with watered down requirements. British. Designed to British specifications. built by British engineers for the Royal Air Force. And when NATO, when America, when Germany, when France saw what Britain built, they didn't just admire it, they panicked because Britain just leapfrogged them in the most critical domain of 21st century air combat, electronic warfare. And nobody saw it coming. But to understand why ECRS Mark II is revolutionary, why Britain should feel pride, we need to go back to 1983 to the moment Britain decided we will never again depend solely on America for combat aircraft. The Forklands War 1982 Britain fought Argentina 3,000 mi from home and won. But it was close, dangerously close. British Harriers, brilliant aircraft. British design dominated Argentine fighters, but Britain lost ships. HMS 4:01 Sheffield, HMS Coventry, HMS Ardent, Antelopee. Six ships sunk, 10 damaged, all by one weapon, the French Exoset missile. And Britain's air defense inadequate. The Sea Harrier was superb, but there weren't enough. Britain needed land-based air superiority fighters that could deploy anywhere, but had none. The lesson was clear. Britain needed a new fighter, an air superiority fighter, the best in the world. And waiting for America to sell it wasn't acceptable. So, Britain joined with Germany, Italy, and Spain. The Euro Fighter program designed the best multi-roll combat aircraft possible. No compromises, no good enough. The best. The project took decades. Critics called it wasteful, delayed, overbudget. Said Britain should just buy American F-15s or F-16s, 5:02 cheaper, proven. But Britain persisted because Britain understood something fundamental. Sovereignty. If you depend on others for your defense technology, you're not truly sovereign. You're a client. And clients follow, they don't lead. Britain wanted to lead. And in 2003, the first RAF Typhoon entered service. Immediately, it proved exceptional. Air superiority missions dominant. Quick reaction alerts perfect. Ground attack surprisingly effective. But there was always one limitation. One area where Typhoon wasn't quite worldleading, its radar. The original Captor mechanically scanned radar was good, very good for its time, but mechanical, old-fashioned by modern standards. Modern fighters use ASA, active electronically scanned array radars. No moving parts, faster, more reliable, more capable. America's F-22, F-35, ASA from the start. France's Rafal 6:07 Acer. Even Russia's Su57, ASA Typhoon needed one desperately. The Euro Fighter Consortium developed Captor E, an ASA radar. Better than the old mechanical system, but with one brilliant British innovation, a swivel mount. Most ASA radars are fixed, limited to about 120° scan. Capture E mounted on a repositioner, 200°, nearly twice the coverage. That alone made it competitive. But Britain wanted more. Britain wanted electronic attack capability. Britain wanted the radar to not just see enemy systems, but destroy them electronically, remotely, invisibly. So, Britain developed ECS M2 and changed everything. What makes ECS 7:00 M2 different from every other fighter radar in the world? First, wideband operation. Most fighter radars operate in narrow frequency bands. Good for detecting aircraft, less good for electronic warfare. ECRS Mark II operates across an enormous electromagnetic spectrum. It can detect not just aircraft, but surfaceto-air missiles, ground radars, communication systems, everything electronic. And it doesn't just detect, it analyzes, classifies, prioritizes, then feeds that information to the pilot instantly. Second, electronic attack. This is the revolutionary bit. ECRS Mark II can jam enemy radars with tremendous power. While still performing its primary function as an air-to-air sensor, imagine a typhoon approaches enemy airspace. The enemy has sophisticated surfaceto-air missiles, S400, S300, 8:02 deadly systems with ranges exceeding 100 km. Normally attacking those systems requires dedicated electronic warfare aircraft, EA18G growlers for America, tornado ECRs for Germany now retired, expensive, complicated, vulnerable. But Typhoon with ECR's M2 doesn't need them. The Typhoon detects the enemy radar, analyses its frequency, calculation optimal jamming parameters, then broadcasts a massive jamming signal directly at the threat. The enemy radar sees nothing, or worse, sees false targets, hundreds of them, while the real Typhoon, invisible to their systems, launches weapons from beyond their effective range. The enemy never even knows they're being attacked. Third, sensor fusion. ECR's M2 doesn't operate alone. It integrates with other 9:00 sensors, with other aircraft, with ground systems, multiple typhoons flying together. Their radars combine, creating a composite picture far more accurate than any single aircraft could achieve. Enemy stealth aircraft trying to hide. harder when four radars from different angles are searching. And it shares that information instantly with friendly forces, F-35s, Awax, ground commanders. Everyone sees what the Typhoon sees. Fourth, it's British. This is critical. America develops amazing systems, but sells them with restrictions. Can't use them certain ways. Can't integrate certain weapons. Can't share data with certain allies. ECRS Mark II British. Designed by Leonardo UK in Edinburgh. Integrated 10:01 by BAE Systems in Lanasher. No American restrictions. No export controls Britain doesn't control. Britain decides who gets it, how it's used, what weapons integrate, everything. That's not just capability. That's sovereignty. Real sovereignty. But does it actually work? Theory is lovely. Reality. 24. September 2024. First flight. Andy Holden watching his phone. Test pilot flying ZK 355 out of Wharton. The radar powered up perfectly. Detected simulated targets. Tracked them. switched modes seamlessly, performed exactly as designed. Ground testing before that, hundreds of hours in BAE's integrated test facility, the only facility of its kind in the UK. 11:00 Engineers flew the radar without ever putting a jet in the air. Tested every mode, every function, every possible scenario. Tim Bungie, chief engineer for ECRS Mark II at Leonardo UK, supervised it all. Decades of experience in radar design. He knows what good looks like. And he said, 'The development of the ECRS M2 is fully utilizing the UK's worldclass radar design skills. World class, not good, not competitive. World class.' and the RAF agrees. Air Commodore Nick Low, head of capability delivery for combat air, stated, 'The ECS Mark II radar will further transform Euro Fighter Typhoon's control of the air. Provide exceptional capability our adversaries will struggle to match.' Struggle to match. That's precise 12:01 language. Not can't match, struggle to match. Meaning even if they figure out how to match it, it'll take them years, maybe decades. Now, let's talk about what Typhoon with ECRS MK2 can do. Capabilities that make NATO, even Britain's closest allies, nervous. Suppression of enemy air defenses, SED. Traditionally, SEED requires dedicated aircraft. America uses F-16 CJs with harm missiles. Specialized, expensive, limited numbers. Typhoon with ECRSMK2. Every Typhoon becomes a seed platform. Scenario. RAF Typhoons tasked with striking a heavily defended target. Enemy has integrated air defense. Multiple SAM sites. overlapping coverage. Lethal. Traditional approach. Send typhoons with escort. Electronic warfare aircraft to jam. Wild weasels to hunt SAMs. Strike aircraft to hit the 13:03 target. Total maybe 20 aircraft for one mission. Typhoon with ECRS MK2 approach. Four Typhoons. That's all. First Typhoon detects enemy radars from 150 km away, far beyond their engagement range. Analyses each system, prioritizes threats, shares data with the other three Typhoons via data link. Second Typhoon maneuvers into jamming position. Activates ECRS M2 electronic attack mode. Massive jamming power focused on the priority SAM site. That radar goes blind. Third and fourth typhoons, now invisible to the jammed radars, launch storm shadow cruise missiles from maximum range. The missiles strike command posts, communications nodes, radar sites. The enemy's integrated air 14:02 defense shattered by four aircraft in minutes with zero friendly losses. That's not hypothetical. That's what Britain can do right now with existing technology. Air superiority. Typhoon was always superb at air-to-air combat. Super cruise sustained supersonic flight without afterburner. Thrustto weight ratio exceeding 1:1. Phenomenal agility. But ECRS Mark II makes it terrifying. Imagine a Typhoon facing advanced enemy fighters. Su35s, J20s. Whatever the threat, the typhoon detects them first. ECRS Mark II's wideband array picks up their radar emissions from 200 km away. Long before they detect the typhoon, the pilot doesn't need to turn on his own radar. Doesn't need to advertise his position. 15:04 He sees the enemy. They don't see him. He launches meteor missiles. Ramjet powered. No escape zone exceeding 100 km from maximum range. The enemy doesn't even know they're targeted until the missiles go active in terminal phase. By then, too late. The Typhoon already turning away, already escaping, leaving burning wreckage behind. This isn't Top Gun. This is modern air combat where the side that sees first and shoots first wins. And ECRS Mark II ensures Britain sees first. Fleet defense. Britain has two Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers, massive vessels, 65,000 tons each, capable of projecting British power anywhere. But carriers are vulnerable to cruise missiles, to submarines, to aircraft. F-35Bs operating from the carriers provide defense, excellent aircraft, stealthy, 16:04 capable, but limited weapon capacity. Internal weapons bays restrict loadout and only Britain operates F-35Bs from carriers outside America. Typhoons based on friendly airfields can extend carrier protection hundreds of kilome with ECRS Mark II. They detect threats the F-35Bs feed to them. The Typhoons carrying eight air-to-air missiles plus external weapons engage those threats at extreme range. The carrier battle group becomes invulnerable, protected by a layered defense the enemy can't penetrate. Now the critical question, the question British taxpayers deserve answered. What did this cost? ECS Mark2 development 2.35 billion. Sounds enormous, but context matters. 17:00 America's F-35 program over $1 trillion for the entire program. Development, procurement, sustainment, 1 trillion. Britain's contribution to F-35 significant. But Britain gets some of that technology, not all, and with restrictions. ECS Mark 22.35 billion pounds for complete British ownership, complete control, complete sovereignty and it sustains jobs. Over 600 highly skilled engineers just on the radar program. 300 in Edinburgh at Leonardo, 100 in Luton, 120 in Lanasher at BAE. the broader typhoon program. Over 20,000 jobs across the UK, from Scotland to the South Coast, from Wales to East Anglia. That's not just jobs. That's expertise, 18:05 skills, knowledge. The kind of high-tech manufacturing base that Britain needs for the 21st century. And exports. Typhoon has sold to Austria, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Spain, Germany, Italy. Recent deals, Turkey agreed to buy 40 typhoons in October 2025, worth billions. Britain's work share in Euro Fighter, 37%. Every Typhoon sold, Britain gets 37% of the value, plus spares, plus support, plus upgrades. ECRS Mark II makes Typhoon more attractive, more capable, more valuable. Countries looking at fighters now see American F-35, expensive, restricted. French Rafale, good but limited electronic warfare. 19:06 Russian SU35 sanctioned unreliable supply chain. British Typhoon with ECRS Mark II worldleading capability. No American restrictions. European reliability. Suddenly Britain is in demand. Turkey wants typhoons. Egypt considering Poland interested. That's not just sales. That's influence. Geopolitical power through technological superiority. But here's where it gets really interesting. The bit that makes America nervous. ECRS Mark II is better than American systems in specific areas. America's F-35 has the APG81 radar. Excellent system, stealthy, integrated with the airframe. Impressive, but it's narrow band designed primarily for air-to-air. Electronic warfare is supplementary. ECRS M2 wideband. Electronic warfare is co-equal with air-to-air. Can do both 20:05 simultaneously at full capability. America's EA18G Grounder dedicated electronic warfare aircraft. Phenomenal at jamming, but that's all it does. Can't dogfight, can't strike targets, one mission. Typhoon with ECRS M2, multi-roll, electronic warfare, air superiority, ground attack, reconnaissance, everything. One aircraft doing what America needs two aircraft to accomplish. And here's the kicker. Britain owns this technology. America can't buy it without British permission. Can't copy it without violating intellectual property. Can't even fully understand it without British cooperation. For the first time in decades, Britain has military technology America wants that America needs that America can't just take. That's power. Real power. The kind Britain hasn't had since the Second World War. October 2025, RAF Cunningsby, Lincolnshire, home 21:00 of the Typhoon Squadrons. Flight left tenant James Morrison, 29 years old, Typhoon pilot, six years on type, briefs his mission. Standard air policing patrol over the North Sea. But his aircraft isn't standard. Tanch 3 Typhoon already excellent but now scheduled to receive ECRS Mark II in the next upgrade cycle. He knows what's coming, attended the briefings, studied the capabilities, understands what ECRS Mark 2 means. His father flew tornado GR4s Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, dangerous missions, often flying into heavily defended airspace, hoping the enemy's radars didn't see them, hoping surfaceto-air missiles didn't find them. Too many didn't come home. 22:02 James thinks about that, about his father's generation, about the risks they took, about the aircraft they flew, good aircraft, brilliant even, but lacking the tools to survive modern air defenses. And now, now James will fly with ECRS Mark 2, will have the ability to see enemy radars from hundreds of kilometers away, to blind them before they even know he's there, to strike with impunity. His chances of coming home dramatically higher. Not because he's braver than his father, because British engineers gave him better tools. That's what 2.35 billion pounds buys. Not just capability, lives. British lives. And every British taxpayer should know that, should feel proud of that, should understand that 23:03 this isn't wasteful spending. This is investing in British security, British sovereignty, British survival. But ECS Mark II is only part of the story. Typhoon itself, even before the radar upgrade, is phenomenal. Since entering service in 2003, Typhoon has flown over 500,000 hours. Operation Shader strikes against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Baltic Air Policing, defending NATO airspace from Russian incursions. Faulland's air defense, continuous quick reaction alert since 2012. Syria, first operational air-to-air kill with Azra in December 2021. That last one deserves attention. December 14, 2021. Alanth coalition base, Syria, hostile. 24:01 Drone approaches the base. Small, slow, difficult target for sophisticated systems. RAF Typhoon scrambled. Pilot acquires the drone visually. Uses Azram, advanced short-range air-to-air missile, British designed to engage. One missile, one kill. First operational air-to-air engagement by RAF Typhoon. Perfect. September 2022. Atlantic thunder exercise off the American coast. Typhoon from 41 squadron attacks exus boon decommissioned American warship with paveway 4 laserg guided bombs. Direct hits ship sinking. First time RAF Typhoon struck a naval target with live ordinance, proving 25:03 Typhoon's versatility. Maritime strike. September 2023. Finland. Exercise Barner 23. RAF Typhoons operate from highways, land on public roads, refuel, rearm, take off again, demonstrating capability to operate from anywhere, even if airbases destroyed, even if infrastructure gone. That's resilience. British resilience. British ingenuity. Now, let's address the elephant in the room. The question critics always raise. Why not just buy more F-35s? America's offering them fifth generation stealth. Proven. Fair question. Deserves honest answer. 26:00 F-35B is excellent. Britain operates them from carriers. Will eventually have 138 total. Superb aircraft for specific missions. But F-35 is not a Typhoon replacement. Different mission. F-35 stealth. First day of war penetration. Strike heavily defended targets. Information warfare. Typhoon. Air superiority. Persistent presence. Large weapon loads. lower operating cost. RAF needs both. The F-35, colloially called the assassin. Typhoon called the thug. Assassin strikes quietly, disappears, invisible. Thug controls airspace, dominates, overwhelms. Modern air combat needs both approaches. 27:04 flexibility options. And here's the economic reality. Typhoon costs less to operate than F-35B. Significantly less. No low observable coatings to maintain. No complex thermal management. Supply chain British managed for peaceime air policing. Quick reaction alerts. Typhoons are perfect and affordable. F-35s for highintensity war against peer adversaries, typhoons for everything else. That's not weakness. That's smart force structure. And the future, what comes next? GCAP, global combat air program. Britain, Japan, Italy developing the sixth generation fighter called Tempest for the British portion. Expected service entry mid 2030s. automatically manned, 28:02 artificial intelligence integrated, revolutionary. But until then, Typhoon. Typhoon will serve until 2040 at least, possibly longer. And every year between now and then, Typhoon gets better. Phase 4 enhancement P4E upgrade. New weapons, new sensors, new capabilities. ECRS MK2 radar rolling out to all Tranch 3 aircraft later potentially Tanch 2. Integration with loyal wingman drones. Autonomous aircraft flying alongside Typhoons. Force multiplication. Typhoon isn't ending. Typhoon is evolving. And Britain leads that evolution. 37% workshare. But intellectual leadership, Britain drives Typhoon's development more than any other partner. Germany wants different radar. Fine, they get ECRS 29:06 Mark1. Britain gets Mark 2. Better, more capable, more British. Spain wants certain weapons approved. Britain integrates Storm Shadow, Brimstone, Meteor, Spear 3 coming. Typhoon becomes what Britain needs, not what the consortium agrees, what Britain needs. That's sovereignty in action. Back to Andy Holden, the man who watched that first ECS Mark 2 flight from his home office. He's been with BAE Systems since 1993. Apprentice worked his way up three decades. Tornado, Harrier, Hawk, Typhoon. He's seen British aerospace at its best and sometimes its worst. Projects canled, jobs lost, expertise 30:02 wasted. But ECRS M2, this is British aerospace at its absolute best. Worldleading technology developed in Britain, built in Britain, for Britain. He says it's about more than detection. It's about electronic attack and dominance. Put simply, that means allowing the Typhoon to punch through enemy air defenses and operate with unrivaled confidence. Unrivaled confidence. That's what ECRS Mark 2 gives British pilots. Confidence they can survive, can complete their mission, can come home. And for Andy, for the 600 engineers working on this program, for the 20,000 people across Britain whose jobs depend on Typhoon, that matters. They're not just building a radar, they're protecting Britain, protecting British lives, protecting British interests, and they're doing it 31:03 brilliantly. So, what should Britain's think when they hear about Typhoon? First, pride. Britain built this not with American help, not as a junior partner, as an equal, as a leader. Second, security. Typhoon defends Britain every single day. Quick reaction alerts scramble when Russian aircraft probe British airspace, and they always scramble, and they always intercept. Third, sovereignty. Britain controls this technology. Britain decides how it's used, who gets it, what capabilities are added. Fourth, economics. 20,000 British jobs, billions in exports, technology leadership in a critical industry. Fifth, future. ECRS Mark II isn't an ending, it's a foundation. Skills 32:01 developed here feed into GCAP, into Tempest, into Britain's aerospace future. Sixth, respect. When other nations see British typhoons, they don't see outdated fourth generation fighters. They see lethal platforms with capabilities they struggle to match. Flight leftenant Morrison, the Typhoon pilot we met earlier, takes off from Conningsby. Standard patrol, but nothing feels standard anymore. He knows what's coming. ECRS Mark 2 upgrade next year. His aircraft, his squadron. He thinks about his father, the tornado pilot who flew into Iraqi air defenses, who survived, who came home, but who lost friends who didn't. And he thinks, 'I'll have tools they never imagined.' Capabilities that redefine what's possible. Not because Britain spent more money, because Britain spent money wisely on sovereign capabilities. On British engineering, his typhoon climbs through clouds, levels at 40,000 ft. 33:04 radar scanning, clean airspace, peaceful. But he knows when it's not peaceful, when threats emerge, he'll be ready with the best aircraft, the best radar, the best weapons, all British, all worldclass. And if someone asks, 'Why should I feel proud?' The answer flies overhead every day, defending Britain, projecting British power, representing British excellence. Typhoon with ECRS M2. The aircraft that gave Britain unprecedented power. Not because it's the biggest, because it's the best. Not because it's the most expensive, because it's the smartest. Not because Britain had to, because Britain could. And that's the difference. That's what makes Britain Britain. Not an arms buyer, an arms maker. Not a client state, a sovereign power. NATO 34:00 panicking? Let them. Because Britain just reminded the world, never underestimate British engineering. Never assume Britain can't lead. Never forget that Britain, when challenged, delivers excellence. Typhoon proves it. ECS Mark II proves it. And every British citizen should know it. Precision defeats mass. Quality beats quantity. British engineering endures. Forever.

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