Bluewings wrote
As long as I am going to see this kind of useless and silly load just to show big things under the wings
What part of clearance trials doesn’t compute with you? I don’t see why some people are getting so bent out of shape over 6 Paveways on a Typhoon? Regardless of a real-world operational fit it was part of the ongoing trials. Not really that hard to comprehend. 17 Squadron started the heavy load evaluations during 2007.
See image on following article link.
The UK Royal Air Force’s 17 Sqn Eurofighter Typhoon operational evaluation unit (OEU) has flown the first two of a planned three heavy weapons load trial sorties, as the aircraft moves towards receiving clearance to conduct air-to-ground strike missions from mid-2008.
Photographed exclusively by Aviacom’s Jamie Hunter, the Tranche 1, Block 5 Typhoon F2 is shown carrying six Raytheon Paveway II laser-guided bombs, plus four AIM-120 Amraam and two MBDA Asraam air-to-air missiles during its first trials flight from RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire on 24 September.
“A large focus of the OEU’s work at the moment is geared towards the multirole operational employment date,” says sortie pilot Sqn Ldr Graham Pemberton, referring to an RAF target of 1 July 2008. The current trials activity is using a selection of approximately 450kg (1,000lb) Paveway IIs, including two which have been instrumented as part of the UK Ministry of Defence’s weapons clearance process for the Typhoon.
The heavy weapons trial was obviously continued during that Green Flag in 2008. The aircraft coded DJ carrying the 6 Paveways was later filmed in the process of dropping them.
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