"The deployment to Singapore is the longest yet for the aircraft and the first outside Europe," the British Embassy said in a statement.

It said the warplanes are from Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF).

"The aircraft, supported by other RAF assets, are in Singapore to be evaluated by the Singapore government," the statement said.

Singapore, a small but affluent Southeast Asian nation which has put emphasis on building its defence capabilities, is shopping for a replacement to its aging squadron of Skyhawk jets.

The Typhoon, manufactured by Europe's Eurofighter consortium, is one of three planes on the government's short-list, the other two being US aerospace giant Boeing's F-15 Strike Eagle and the Rafale, built by France's Dassault Aviation.

The F-15 Strike Eagle and the Rafale have already been evaluated after participating in the Asian Aerospace exhibition hosted by Singapore in February in which they were among the star attractions.

Only a mock-up version of the Typhoon was on display at that exhibition.

The deployment of the Typhoon to Asia followed the publication of a leaked British defence ministry report detailing some problems with the plane's on-board systems.

The Eurofighter Typhoon is a multi-role combat jet with a range of 2500 kilometres (1560 miles) and can be equipped with a mix of missiles depending on its mission.

Britain will receive 232 of the planes, while Italy has ordered 121 Eurofighters and Spain 87. Last year Austria became the first nation outside the consortium to place an order, asking for 18.

Greece has committed to 60 with an option for 30 more.

Each plane costs about 80 million euros (US$96 million).

The Typhoon is built by a consortium involving the French-Spanish-DERATEGerman group EADS, Britain's BAE Systems and Italy's Alenia, but is four years behind schedule and hundreds of millions of euros over budget.

Last month Germany officially put its first five Eurofighters into service in the northern city of Rostock. They will mainly be used for training.

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