The Eurofighter Typhoon has been grounded after a series of faults occurred in flight. Engineers are working to discover the cause of the problem, which is the latest setback in years of troubles for the programme.
The Eurofighter is a joint effort between Britain's largest defence manufacturer, BAE Systems and the Franco-German Eads, supported by the respective governments.
The grounding of the aircraft is a safety precaution after a series of problems were discovered while flying. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence said that the flights of the Typhoon had been suspended after three "in flight incidents". Two occurred where the undercarriage malfunctioned. The third incident involved a problem with the brakes on Friday. They failed when an aircraft was attempting to stop on a runway in Munich.
The spokesperson described the incidents as "teething problems", and said that a back-up system meant that there was no damage to the aircraft.
She added that the first formal delivery of three aircraft to the RAF, which had been expected on Friday, was likely to be delayed. Last week Eurofighter jets were officially presented to the Spanish air force, but their intended participation in an air display during the country's national day parade on Sunday had to be cancelled after the suspension of flights.
Officials said that they did not know how long the aircraft would be grounded.
Last month the German court of auditors strongly criticised the Eurofighter project for a series of technical glitches, including an inability to fire the aircrafts' weapons.
In November, a aeroplane crashed in Spain. The project is now four years late and £1bn over budget.
A spokesperson for the Eurofighter corporation said that on Friday that one of the test aircraft had a problem braking, so it "seemed prudent" to ground the aircraft.
"It is not going to derail the whole program," he said. He said that it was too early to tell which contractor was responsible for the problems.
The programme is often criticised as it was designed as a solution to the cold war problems. The government of German and Britain are both considering whether to decrease their orders for the aircraft.

I won't say "I told you so". I never liked it & nothing I've seen so far has changed my mind. I suspected from the very start that this thing will be obsolete (or at least obsolescent) before it enters service. It's always the same with anything designed by a committee. The price goes way over estimated budget & our services get inferior equiipment. 

Most successful British military aircraft I can think of were originally developed as private ventures, usually by the foresight & at the expense of the manufacturer. Some were virtually ruined once the the brass hats had finished adding the stuff they wanted. (The Beagle Basset communications aircraft ended up at twice the weight of its successful predecessor the Beagle 206. I'm surprised it could even get off the ground.) Fortunately some gave oustanding service despite this interference, the Spitfire & Harrier are only 2 examples I could mention. Unfortunately, with the state of the British aircraft industry it's no longer possible for one company (& one design team) to produce anything competitive.

We should buy some Hornets.  They certainly look prettier.

Will

  I though I heard that British Aerospace bought the aircraft division of SAAB?  If so wouldn't the "Griffen" be a better replacement for the Eurofighter?  It would have most of the capabilities of the Eurofighter, except for range, and would still be home built.

  If not maybe the F-22 would be a good choice, if the U.S. is willing to sell them.

nah I like the eurofighter and besides the typhoon kicked the rafales arse in air combat tests Its only a problem with the undecarraige and nothing too serious I'm still confident of the aircraft.

  "good ol' F-4s"........sounds like its time for an upgrade!

The tornado was a euro colaboration and that was a huge succes (not to mention a beauty of an aircraft.)