The aircraft took to the skies over our site in Warton, Lancashire on Thursday watched by His Excellency Dr Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs.
His Excellency Dr Khalid Mohammed Al Attiyah led a delegation of senior Qatari stakeholders to witness the first flight of MS001, the first production aircraft to come out of our Typhoon Final Assembly facility.
The first flight was made by our Typhoon Project Pilot, Luke Gili-Ross, and begins a programme of flight testing of aircraft ahead of the first deliveries to Qatar next year.
The flight is the latest milestone in our partnership with the Government of Qatar, which will see us deliver 24 Typhoon aircraft, nine Hawk advanced jet trainers and deliver a six-year availability support service.
Our people will deliver live and synthetic training flying as well as availability support through BSL, our Qatari joint venture company.
Eurofighter Typhoon is the most advanced multi-role combat aircraft available on the market today. Flexible, agile and enduring, it provides simultaneously deployable Air-to-Air and Air-to-Surface capabilities.