became central to the ACA included full-authority digital fly-by-wire controls, which would enable a significantly aerodynamically unstable aircraft to be flown, and multiple advanced manufacturing processes. During the early 1980s, it was recognised that, due to the high extent of cutting-edge technologies involved, a reasonable risk reduction measure ahead of launching a full-scale production programme would be the completion of several technology demonstrator aircraft. During the 1982 Farnborough Airshow, a mockup of the ACA was publicly exhibited; this mockup also appeared at the Paris Air Show in May 1983. It was at the 1983 Paris Air Show that the official launch of the Experimental Aircraft Programme (EAP), under which a pair of technology demonstrators would be manufactured and flown, was announced. At the programme's launch, it was intended for the EAP to be a partnership between Britain and several of its European neighbours, including West Germany and Italy. The initial project definition of what became the Eurofighter Typhoon commenced shortly after the EAP project was initiated. While the similarity between the EAP and the Eurofighter Typhoon is striking, there are numerous important design differences; the cranked delta wings of the EAP have been replaced with a straight delta, while the size of the fin has been much reduced and the rectangular air intake of the prototype has been replaced with one with a "smiling" configuration. Funding and construction The EAP was intended to be financed by multiple countries. Early on, the British Government announced that it would make a financial contribution to the EAP; however, funding would not prove to be forthcoming from the West German government, which heavily contributed to the decision to cancel the planned second airframe prior to major work commencing. The UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) reportedly invested almost £80m into the EAP. The initiative became exclusively funded by the UK, from both the public and the private sector, the latter in the form of the aviation industry itself. Following German government instructions to withdraw support, MBB withdrew but other German companies stayed in. Assembly of the sole EAP aircraft was performed within British Aerospace's development facility (No. 2 Hangar) at Warton. Structurally, it comprised three major fuselage structures; front, centre & rear. The front fuselage contained many innovative structures in Carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer composites and aluminium-lithium alloy, while the centre and rear fuselage structures were conventional - a result of MBB withdrawal, the right hand wing