For Mike Frank it was a time to remember — he clocked on at BAE Systems for the first time that year. For Thomas Dickie it was a special one too — he was born in June 2000.
Some 23 years later and having witnessed a number of Typhoon firsts, (first flight, first operations, and first E-Scan radar among others) Mike is now our Head of Engineering for Product Strategy on the platform. For the bulk of his service, he has been involved in the programme in one role or another.
Thomas, on the other hand, is a relative rookie, having joined BAE Systems in September last year as an integration engineering graduate after studying aerospace engineering at the University of Leeds. Today, he’s part of the Medulla team which is developing a technology package for Typhoon, including a new cockpit interface and a new mission computing cluster.
Generation Next
Two generations at different points in their careers but united by one of the world’s most capable swing role aircraft. As for Typhoon, we are actually only a third of the way through its service life. For Mike that means it’s vital that new talent like Thomas is continually attracted to the programme to follow in his footsteps.
“It’s an important message — we have to continue to appeal to the younger generations like Thomas for the good of Typhoon, and that will also benefit programmes like GCAP that will follow,” says Mike.
“Not least because Typhoon will play a fundamental part in a combined air force for the RAF and many of our customers for many years to come.”
So, how would you sell the job to the new generation of engineers, particularly when there’s a headline grabbing rival programme in development? Mike says he recognises that GCAP is fundamental to the future of the business but argues that, just as technology can bridge across generations, so too can skills.
He says: “The value of working on the Typhoon is you get to understand how to shape, evolve and work through a complex programme which is not always in your control. It’s a real gritty job that's delivering capability to the front line for people who are in harm's way today.
“Operating on a live programme like this you learn great career skills. Working on Typhoon means delivering to deadlines, working through complex integrations with interdependent partnerships across Europe and tackling emergent issues. These kinds of things are a fact of life for any complex multinational programme — and they will be no different in the future.
“We are talking about gaining the ability to survive and thrive within a complex product environment, learning about the geo-political contracts world, how cross-national partnerships work, and an understanding of the supplier environment. These skills will serve you well on both Typhoon and FCAS.”
Though relatively new to the business, Thomas shares Mike’s viewpoint, not least because he grew up with Typhoon.
“I have always had a fascination with Typhoon — in fact, I even wrote a 10,000-word paper on it for my A-levels,” says Thomas. But I was quite surprised when I realised just how much life it has ahead of it.
“Before I joined the company and I was considering my options Typhoon didn’t get too much of a mention. Even though I was interested in it you tended to hear much more about FCAS and GCAP. In comparison, Typhoon seemed as though it was viewed almost as a legacy platform, a very capable one, but one that was heading towards the end of its life.
“However, since I arrived here, I can see that’s really not the case and I have no regrets. I’m really glad I joined the Medulla team. “
Breaking Down Silos
Mike points out that the Typhoon world is more than just the different capability drops or service contracts.
“In the modern threat environment you can no longer separate the aircraft and its capabilities from the support, the training, the mission data — all of that has to come together. And then it’s about aligning how it will interoperate with both F-35 and FCAS, leveraging the relative strengths of each weapon system to deliver the maximum military capability.”
Thomas can already see how Typhoon will evolve over the next few years with a new sensor, new human machine interface, new helmet and much more.
He explains: “Working on Medulla is a good example of our new ways of thinking. Our team works closely with other teams — we’re far more integrated and we share resources. Like Mike said, you can't consider all these different parts in silos. It's all one package — it's the airframe, it's software, it's mission computing — and you have to work together as one big team.”
Mike has spent all but three of his 23-years career working on Typhoon. But, in that time, he has done about 10 different jobs from supporting the MoD, through to working on export campaigns. “I've never been bored,” he says.
“We sometimes take it for granted but when you step back Typhoon has got twice as many years ahead of it as it's got behind it. That’s exciting and in truth it means that someone like Thomas joining us today could spend a very fulfilling career on Typhoon and still not see it go out of service!”
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