Typhoon Block 5 to Italy and RAF.

The Italian Air Force has received the first of five Eurofighter Typhoon Block 5 aircraft, with the remainder of the 29 tranche 1 production to be delivered before end 2007. The Block 5 Typhoons are the first to have the Pirate search-and-track system installed. The Pirate, developed by a consortium led by Galileo Avionica, combines a forward-looking infrared (flir) unit and the IRST (Infra Red Search and Track) system, which is able to search, detect and track potential targets in a stealthy passive mode without any signal emission. The Block 5 has also received an extension of its flight envelope to9 G at subsonic and 7 G at supersonic speeds. In other Typhoon news the Royal Air Force has taken delivery of its first two Typhoons with multi-role capability, which adds GPS and laser-guided bomb ground attack to its air-to-air combat capabilities. The RAF's XI Squadron at RAF Coningsby will spend the next few months training for the multi-role mission and expects to declare operational capability with the new Typhoons in July 2008. One aircraft was a new-build the second passed through the Retrofit 2 upgrade programme, which will eventually bring 115 Typhoons across Europe up to Block 5 standard.

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