The Eurofighter Typhoon is a twin-engine multi-role fighter built by a European consortium made up of the UK, Germany, Spain and Italy. With 4 countries involved it is necessary to have what they call Tranches (similar to contracts) that are broken down into batches and blocks. The development of the Eurofighter began in 1983 with the prototype maiden flight of the Eurofighter taking place on March 27, 1994. The first fully equipped Tranche 2 Instrumented Production Aircraft (IPA7) took to the skies on January 16, 2008.
In 2015 to mark the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain Eurofighter ZK349 was painted and marked to represent the 249 Squadron’s Flight Lieutenant James Brindley Nicolson VC DFC. On August 16, 1940 Nicolson’s Hawker Hurricane Mk. I GN-A (P3576) was hit four times by a Bf-110 cannon. Two hit Nicolson and two set fire to the aircraft. As Nicolson prepared to bail out he saw another Bf-110 so he stayed in the burning aircraft until it was destroyed. Nicolson suffered burns to most of his body.