British Aerospace EAP

The British Aerospace ACA or EAP was a prototype fighter aircraft developed as a private venture in the 1980s and which eventually formed the basis for the Eurofighter Typhoon.

In 1982, British Aerospace exhibited the ACA (Agile Combat Aircraft) at the Farnborough Air Show as well as the Paris Air Show in May 1983. The ACA was a result of several years of private venture research by BAe, costing around £25 million.

The British Government announced it would make a financial contribution to the EAP (Experimental Aircraft Programme), which would be based on the ACA and would first fly on August 8 1986. The Ministry of Defence would eventually invest almost £80m on the EAP, the rest funded by BAe.

The Experimental Aircraft Programme was designed to research components technology to be used in a future project, named EFA (European Fighter Project, later to become the Eurofighter).

The EAP was fitted with a variety of advanced electronic equipment, including three CRT displays and a HUD similar to the F-16's. The EAP's engines were a pair of Turbo-Union RB199-104 afterburning turbofans, powerplant of the Tornado Air Defence Variant.

After several years of research by the EAP, the Eurofighter project was initiated. Without the research from the ACA/EAP projects, the Eurofighter would not have been possible. While the similarity between the EAP and the Typhoon is striking there are some importants differences; the cranked wings of the EAP have been replaced with a straight delta, the size of the tail plane has been reduced dramatically and the straight intakes of the prototpye have been replaced with a "smiling" configuration.

The EAP Aircraft is currently located in the Aeronautical Engineering department of Loughborough University, and is used to show the Aero students the components of a fighter jet.

Specifications (EAP)

General characteristics

• Crew: one, pilot
• Length: 55 ft 1 in (16.80 m)
• Wingspan: 34 ft 5 in (10.50 m)
• Height: 19 ft 0 in (5.80 m)
• Wing area: ft² ( m²)
• Empty: 21,900 lb (9,935 kg)
• Loaded: lb ( kg)
• Maximum takeoff: 40,000 lb (18,145 kg)
• Powerplant: 2 x Turbo-Union RB199-104, 16,000 lbf (71.3 kN) thrust each

Performance

• Maximum speed: Mach 2.27, 2,414 km/h (1,500 mph)
• Range: miles ( km)
• Service ceiling: ft ( m)
• Rate of climb: ft/min ( m/min)
• Wing loading: lb/ft² ( kg/m²)
• Thrust-to-weight:

Related content

Related development: Eurofighter Typhoon

Comparable aircraft:

Designation sequence: