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The Kuwaiti Air Force Typhoon will be the most advanced of the eight Eurofighter operators.
On October 15, 2021, the first two Eurofighter Typhoon jets destined for Kuwait completed their maiden flight at the Leonardo factory in Caselle near Turin in northwest Italy.
The two aircraft received the Italian experimental series CSX55243 and CSX55244, but they will become KT001 and KT002 as soon as they enter the Kuwaiti Air Force. The planes currently carry the flag of Kuwait, the badge of the Kuwaiti Air Force and a medium gray color scheme, which under certain lighting conditions appears very similar to that of the German Air Force typhoons.
Aviation ace Alessandro Maggia shot the new aircraft as it taxied and took off for its first local test deployment in the R64 and R64bis restricted airspaces.
Kuwait is said to receive 28 typhoons: 22 singles and 6 doubles. The Typhoon will be equipped with the first variant of the Captor E AESA radar, the ECRS Mk 0, together with P3Eb (Phase 3 Enhancements Package b) multi-role functions and the Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod, which is considered to be the most advanced Typhoon ever produced. This special configuration was developed and tested in Italy with the Typhoon ISPA 6 (Instrumented Series Production Aircraft).
The contract for 28 aircraft was signed in April 2016 after an initial MoU was signed in September 2015. Deliveries should initially be completed in 2023, but it’s not clear if it’s still the original plan. Kuwait becomes the eighth Eurofighter operator after Austria, Italy, Germany, Spain, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Great Britain.
The Kuwaiti Air Force has been flying an F / A-18C / D frontline since the Mirage F1Ks and A-4KUs Skyhawks retired after the Gulf War. However, it will soon return to a two-type frontline, with an order of also 28 Super Hornets, ordered in 2018, with the same mix of one and two-seaters: 22 F / A-18Es and 6 F / A-18Fs.
H / T to our friend Matteo Buono for the heads-up and a big thank you to Alessandro Maggia for the recordings. Be sure to check out his Instagram account for more great photos here: @alessandro_maggia_avphotos
David Cenciotti is a freelance journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the founder and editor of The Aviationist, one of the world’s most popular and widely read military aviation blogs. Since 1996 he has been writing for major global magazines including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft and many others in the fields of aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the US, Europe, Australia and Syria and flown several fighter jets with various air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, private pilot and graduate in computer science. He has written four books.
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