Kuwait receives first Typhoon fighters

Kuwaiti officers and the emirate's ambassador to Italy stand next in front of one of the first two Typhoons to be handed over at Leonardo's Caselle production facility. (KUNA)

The Kuwait Armed Forces announced on 8 December that it has received its first two Eurofighter Typhoon multirole fighters during a ceremony held in Italy and attended by Air Vice Marshal Bandar al- Mezyen, the deputy commander of the Kuwait Air Force.

It released photographs of the two jets at Leonardo's Caselle assembly facility in northern Italy and said the aircraft would fly to Kuwait on 14 December.

“The new squadron of aircraft meets the world's latest standards of multirole fighters in terms of electronic warfare, the fastest ability to respond, the advanced and diversified missile weaponry, the new E-scan radar,” Kuwait's KUNA news agency quoted AVM Mezyen as saying.

Kuwait's order for 22 single-seat and six twin-seat Typhoons was finalised in 2016. Leonardo said the following year that deliveries would take place from 2020–23, a timeline that clearly slipped.

It said the aircraft would be equipped with the Captor-E electronically scanned radar, PIRATE infrared search-and-track system, and Praetorian defensive aids sub-system. They will be able to carry MBDA Storm Shadow and Brimstone air-to-ground missiles as well as other weapons.