EF2000, formerly known as EFA (European Fighter), is a new type of fighter developed by the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Spain. The new fighter was mainly used in air combat, and had both ground attack capabilities, and the imaginary enemy was the Soviet MiG-29 and Su-27.
In order to jointly support the advanced fighter planes developed by themselves, the four countries have paid a lot of price. According to a report published by the German Federal Audit Office in 1995, the development of the EF2000 was significantly overrun, with the estimated lifetime "system price" (including maintenance and logistical support) of 100 million marks (about $72 million) per aircraft, which was now overspent by almost 50 percent. The increase in costs will definitely affect the sales of the product. Four countries have also made up their minds to purchase about 600 EF2000 fighter jets on their own. But it's not enough to buy it on your own, the EF2000 also needs to expand the market and go to the outside world to attract buyers. EF2000 is embarrassed to belittle the F-16 and the "Mirage" 2000, after all, they are allies within NATO. In this way, the spearhead is pointed at the MiG-29, which sells well because of its "good quality and low price".
The main approach is: advanced design and powerful firepower. The EF2000 fighter adopts a double-triangle mid-wing canard layout, the fuselage belly is a parallel wedge-shaped air intake with a surface laminate, the full-motion canard front wing is above the front of the air intake, and the control surface is controlled by the digital full power active control and mission adaptation fly-by-wire flight control system. Advanced composites and new aluminum-lithium alloys are widely used in aircraft structures. The onboard equipment has a multifunctional pulse-Doppler radar capable of tracking eight targets simultaneously. The so-called "record" of 1:8 is mainly "calculated" from here. The aircraft is superior to the F-16C, F-15C, and F/A-18A in both stable hovering performance and instantaneous hovering performance.
The Eurofighter Corporation claims that the EF2000 fighter is a representative of the fourth-generation fighter developed in Europe, and its performance is comprehensively ahead of the third-generation fighter such as the MiG-29. However, not only Russian experts scoffed at this "high-level theory", but even Americans did not think so. When it comes to the evaluation of the EF2000 advanced fighter, it is necessary to first understand the technical performance standards of the 4th generation supersonic fighter. In the half century after World War II, the development of jet supersonic fighters has gone through roughly four generations, and each generation of aircraft has gone up a "step" compared with the previous one. For example, the F-22 fighter being developed by the United States has integrated many high-tech technologies in the aviation field in recent years, especially in stealth performance and supersonic cruise capability, and has become a typical example of the fourth-generation supersonic fighter. Measured by this standard, the EF2000 and several other new fighters developed in Europe cannot be considered fully "qualified". These aircraft are far from the F-22 in stealth performance and supersonic cruise capability.
Of course, today's MiG-29 is no longer the MiG-29 of 20 years ago: In terms of airborne electronic equipment, the EF2000 does have the upper hand; in terms of maneuverability, agility, and close-range combat capability, these are the "traditional strengths" of the MiG-29, and the EF2000 may not be able to take much advantage; in terms of over-the-horizon air combat, the newly improved MiG-29 has also been modified with airborne radar and missiles, and its degree of advancement is comparable to that of the EF2000...... In this way, if it is 1 to 1, the EF2000 can still deal with it calmly, and if it is 1 to 8, it seems to be a bit of a "joke".
Because the EF2000 fighter was jointly developed by Britain, Germany, Italy, and Spain, it is necessary to take into account the requirements of various countries, so its performance is not outstanding. However, the aircraft uses all modern high-tech and is still considered an advanced fighter.