Eurofighter will by year-end make is final proof-of-concept test flight on an aerodynamic modification kit that promises to improve the combat aircraft's subsonic turn rate by 15%. The kit adds leading-edge root extensions and extended trailing edge flaps, as well as reshaping the side-of-cockpit ILS antennae covers as 70° delta strakes - all of which should improve the aircraft's close-quarters agility. Laurie Hilditch, head of future capabilities at Eurofighter, says the modification kit should give the aircraft the sort of "knife-fight in a phone box" turning capability enjoyed by smaller rivals such as the Lockheed Martin F-16, without sacrificing the transonic and supersonic high-energy agility inherent to its delta wing-canard configuration. Speaking at Airbus Defence & Space's Manching Eurofighter final assembly facility near Munich, Hilditch says the leading-edge root extensions have already been flight tested, and show significant improvement in the subsonic airflow over the wings.
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