While taking part in Green Flag, a major exercise held at Nellis United States Air Force (USAF) Base in Nevada, seven Typhoons from XI Squadron, based at RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire, dropped munitions and fired their cannons with such precision that they have been declared combat ready by the target date of 1 July 2008.
A delighted Group Captain Stuart Atha, Station Commander of RAF Coningsby said:
"What we have in Typhoon is a world-beating aircraft. The Mantra in the Royal air Force is 'agile, adaptable and capable'. That is precisely what this aircraft is.
"We knew it was a world-beater in the air-to-air environment, but we weren't sure about the air-to-surface capability. Nevertheless you just have to look at the world today to see the relevance of an air-to-surface role, and why it is really important that this aircraft should have the air-to-surface capability.
"Well, we have done it, we have achieved it. The guys have demonstrated the capability, which is great news," he added.
Exercise Green Flag West is a joint USAF and Army exercise in which close air support for ground forces is a crucial element aimed at preparing air and ground forces for deployment to overseas operational areas. It is played out in scenarios which simulate the sort of asymmetric combat experienced in conflicts such as those in Iraq and Afghanistan.
As well as Typhoon, this exercise involved around 6,500 US Army ground troops receiving their final training prior to deploying to Iraq, and a USAF F-16 Fighting Falcon unit, normally based in Japan, which is also bound for Iraq before the end of this year. British Forward Air Controllers worked alongside their USAF counterparts.
Wing Commander Gavin Parker, Officer Commanding XI Squadron, said that during pre-exercise training at Davis Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, his squadron worked closely with 17 (Reserve) Squadron, the Typhoon Operational Evaluation Unit, also based at RAF Coningsby, and over a two-week period dropped a total of 67 munitions, comprising 43 Paveway II bombs, eight enhanced Paveway IIIs and 16 1,000 lb (454kg) free fall weapons. He said:
"It has been an outstanding success. The aircraft loved the hot and dry conditions. It achieved a 99.3 per cent strike rate at Davis Monthan, which means we achieved 99.3 per cent serviceability. We only lost two sorties, one due to high wind when no-one flew, and the other to a technical failure - again, unprecedented in my knowledge and experience."