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.
Eurofighter Typhoon II ZK068 c/n CS008/BS051/197 completed its maiden flight on August 14, 2009 and was delivered to the Royal Saudi Air Force December 12, 2009 with serial 1008. This type of aircraft is operated by 10 Squadron along with the 3 and 80 Squadrons located at King Fahd AB, Taif. With the acquisition of these aircraft it makes the RSAF the most modern equipped air force in the region. Saudi Arabia built an assembly plant where the last 48 of the 72 fighters are put together.