The first military aircraft ever to carry a ‘black box’ flight data recorder took to the skies recently - with components for the black box supplied by Swindon-based magnetics manufacturer and distributor MMG MagDev. The first batch of 148 Eurofighter Typhoon supersonic aircraft have been built for the Royal Air Force by BAE Systems in Lancashire and are the first military aircraft in the world to carry a flight data recorder, commonly known as the ‘black box’.

Crucial to the operation of the black box are magnetic components designed by MMG MagDev.

MMG MagDev manufacturing director Paul Wharmby is delighted that his company should be associated with such a prestigious project: ‘This is a tremendous accolade for everybody on the team at MMG MagDev and the staff should all be proud that we are consistently involved with such high-profile applications’.

The Typhoon Eurofighter is capable of speeds up to twice the speed of sound and can climb from the runway to 14km in 30 seconds.

Spain, Germany, Italy and the UK are all involved in the manufacture of the Typhoon as part of the Eurofighter consortium and the Typhoon Eurofighters will based at RAF Coningsby, replacing the Tornado F3.