Panavia Tornado Multirole Combat Aircraft

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Royal Air Force Panavia Tornado GR4. (Chris Lofting / Wiki Common)

The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing multirole combat aircraft, jointly developed and manufactured  by Panavia Aircraft GmbH, a tri-national consortium consisting of British Aerospace (previously British Aircraft Corporation), MBB of West Germany, and Aeritalia of Italy.

Panavia Tornado ECR. (Ronnie Macdonald / Wiki Common)

There are three primary Tornado variants:

• Tornado IDS (interdictor/strike) fighter-bomber
• Tornado ECR (electronic combat/reconnaissance) suppression of enemy air defences 
• Tornado ADV (air defence variant) interceptor aircraft.

Panavia Tornado GR4. (Ronnie Macdonald / Wiki Common)

It first flew on 14 August 1974 and was introduced into service in 1979–1980. Due to its multirole design, it was able to replace several different fleets of aircraft in the adopting air forces.

Panavia Tornado. (Ronnie Macdonald / Wiki Common)

The Panavia Tornado is designed to excel at low-level penetration of enemy defences. The mission envisaged during the Cold War was the delivery of conventional and nuclear ordnance on the invading forces of the Warsaw Pact countries of Eastern Europe; this dictated several significant features of the design.

Variable wing geometry allowed for minimal drag during the low-level dash towards a well-prepared enemy. Advanced navigation and flight computers, including the then-innovative fly-by-wire system, greatly reduced the workload of the pilot during low-level flight and eased control of the aircraft. For long range missions, the Tornado has a retractable refuelling probe.

Panavia Tornado IDS and ECR of Luftwaffe. (Olga Ernst / Wiki Common)

As a multirole aircraft, the Tornado is capable of undertaking more mission profiles than the anticipated strike mission; various operators replaced multiple aircraft types with the Tornado as a common type either by standard Tornados or modified variants, such as the Tornado ECR.

The most extensive modification from the base Tornado design was the Tornado ADV, which was stretched and armed with long range anti-aircraft missiles to serve in the interceptor role.

Tornado operators have undertaken various life extension and upgrade programmes to keep their Tornado fleets as viable frontline aircraft. With these upgrades it is projected that the Tornado shall be in service until 2025, more than 50 years after the first prototype took flight.

Panavia Tornado. (bomberpilot / Wiki Common)

In order for the Tornado to perform well as a low-level supersonic strike aircraft, it was considered necessary for it to possess good high-speed and low-speed flight characteristics. To achieve high-speed performance, a swept or delta wing is typically adopted, but these wing designs are inefficient at low speeds.

To operate at both high and low speeds with great effectiveness, the Tornado uses a variable-sweep wing. This approach had been adopted by earlier aircraft, such as the American General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark strike fighter, and the Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 fighter.

The smaller Tornado has many similarities with the F-111, however the Tornado differs in being a multi-role aircraft with more advanced onboard systems and avionics.

Panavia Tornado ECR. (Ronnie Macdonald / Wiki Common)

The Tornado features a tandem-seat cockpit, crewed by a pilot and a navigator/weapons officer; both electromechanical and electro-optical controls are used to fly the aircraft and manage its systems.

An array of dials and switches are mounted on either side of a centrally placed CRT monitor, controlling the navigational, communications, and weapons-control computers.

BAE Systems developed the Tornado Advanced Radar Display Information System (TARDIS), a 32.5-centimetre (12.8 in) multi-function display, to replace the rear cockpit's Combined Radar and Projected Map Display; the RAF began installing TARDIS on the GR4 fleet in 2004.

RAF Tornado at the 2018 Royal International Air Tattoo. (Spencer Wright / Wiki Common)

The Tornado is cleared to carry the majority of air-launched weapons in the NATO inventory, including various unguided and laser-guided bombs, anti-ship and anti-radiation missiles, as well as specialised weapons such as anti-personnel mines and anti-runway munitions.

To improve survivability in combat, the Tornado is equipped with onboard countermeasures, ranging from flare and chaff dispensers to electronic countermeasure pods that can be mounted under the wings.

Underwing fuel tanks and a buddy store aerial refuelling system that allows one Tornado to refuel another are available to extend the aircraft's range.

Panavia Tornado GR4. (Alan Wilson / Wiki Common)

Strike variants have a limited air-to-air capability with AIM-9 Sidewinder or AIM-132 ASRAAM air-to-air missiles (AAMs). The Tornado ADV was outfitted with beyond visual range AAMs such as the Skyflash and AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles.

The Tornado is armed with two 27 mm Mauser BK-27 revolver cannon internally mounted underneath the fuselage; the Tornado ADV was only armed with one cannon.

When the RAF GR1 aircraft were converted to GR4, the FLIR sensor replaced the left hand cannon, leaving only one; the GR1A reconnaissance variant gave up both its guns to make space for the sideways looking infra-red sensors.

The Mauser BK-27 was developed specifically for the Tornado, but has since been used on several other European fighters, such as the Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet, Saab JAS 39 Gripen, and Eurofighter Typhoon.

Luftwaffe Panavia Tornado IDS in impressive 'Black Panther' marks. (Alan Wilson / Wiki Common)

The Tornado is capable of delivering air-launched nuclear weapons. In 1979, Britain considered replacing its Polaris submarines with either the Trident submarines or the Tornado as the main bearer of its nuclear deterrent.

Although the UK proceeded with Trident, several Tornado squadrons based in Germany were assigned to SACEUR to deter a major Soviet offensive with both conventional and nuclear weapons, namely the WE.177 nuclear bomb, which was retired in 1998.

German and Italian Tornados are capable of delivering US B61 nuclear bombs, which are made available through NATO.

Panavia Tornado in formation. (bomberpilot / Wiki Common)

Tornado variants:

• Tornado IDS
• Tornado GR1. RAF IDS (interdictor/strike) variants were initially designated the Tornado GR1 with later modified aircraft designated Tornado GR1A, Tornado GR1B, Tornado GR4 and Tornado GR4A.
• Tornado GR1B. The Tornado GR1B was a specialised anti-shipping variant of the GR1, replacing the Blackburn Buccaneer.
• Tornado GR4. The UK Ministry of Defence began studies for a GR1 Mid-Life Update (MLU) in 1984. The update to GR4 standard, approved in 1994, would improve capability in the medium-altitude role based on lessons learned from the GR1's performance in the 1991 Gulf War.
• Tornado GR1A/GR4A. The GR1A is the reconnaissance variant operated by the RAF and RSAF
• Tornado ECR. Operated by Germany and Italy, the ECR (Electronic Combat / Reconnaissance) is a Tornado variant devoted to Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) missions.
• Tornado ADV. The Tornado ADV (air defence variant) was an interceptor variant of the Tornado, developed for the RAF (designated Tornado F2 or F3) and also operated by Saudi Arabia and Italy.

Panavia Tornado GR4. (Steve Lynes / Wiki Common)

Operators of the Panavia Tornado:
Germany

• Luftwaffe: 210 IDS and 35 ECR Tornados. By December 2018, 94 IDS and 28 ECR aircraft remained in service.
• Marineflieger: 112 IDS Tornados, retired in June 2005 with some aircraft being reallocated to the Luftwaffe.

Italy

• Aeronautica Militare: 100 IDS A-200 Tornados, 24 ADV F3 aircraft later leased from the RAF between 1995 and 2004. By December 2018, 70 A-200 and 5 EA-200 aircraft remained in service.

Saudi Arabia

• Royal Saudi Air Force: 96 IDS and 24 ADV Tornados, ADVs retired in 2006. By December 2018, 81 IDS aircraft remained in service.

Former operator:
United Kingdom

• Royal Air Force: 385 IDS GR1 and ADV F2/F3 Tornados, including 230 GR1s (142 later upgraded to GR4s), 18 F2s and 147 F3s (retired in 2011). GR4 was retired on 1 April 2019.

General characteristics
Crew: 2
Length: 16.72 m (54 ft 10 in)
Wingspan: 13.91 m (45 ft 8 in) at 25° sweep
Lower wingspan: 8.60 m (28 ft 3 in) swept at 67° sweep
Height: 5.95 m (19 ft 6 in)
Wing area: 26.6 m2 (286 sq ft)
Empty weight: 13,890 kg (30,622 lb)
Gross weight: 20,240 kg (44,622 lb)
Powerplant: 2 × Turbo-Union RB199-34R Mk 103 afterburning 3-spool turbofan, 43.8 kN (9,800 lbf) thrust each dry, 76.8 kN (17,300 lbf) with afterburner

Performance
Maximum speed: 2,400 km/h (1,500 mph, 1,300 kn) at 9,000 m (30,000 ft) (with operable variable intake ramps, which have been inhibited on the majority of Tornado aircraft except ADV variants)
1,482 km/h (921 mph; 800 kn) IAS near sea level
Maximum speed: Mach 2.2
Range: 1,390 km (860 mi, 750 nmi)
Ferry range: 3,890 km (2,420 mi, 2,100 nmi)
Service ceiling: 15,240 m (50,000 ft)
Wing loading: 767 kg/m2 (157 lb/sq ft)
Thrust/weight: 0.77
Armament:

• Guns: 1× 27 mm (1.06 in) Mauser BK-27 revolver cannon internally mounted under starboard side of fuselage with 180 rounds (2x with 180 rounds each in GR.1, GR.1B, and IDS)
• Hardpoints: 3× heavy duty under-fuselage and 4× swivelling under-wing pylon stations with a capacity of 9,000 kg (19,800 lb) of payload, the two inner wing pylons have shoulder launch rails for 2× Short-Range AAM (SRAAM) each,with provisions to carry combinations of:
• Missiles:
• AIM-9 Sidewinder or AIM-132 ASRAAM air-to-air missiles for self-defence
• 6× AGM-65 Maverick; or
• 12× Brimstone missile; or
• 2× Storm Shadow
• 9× ALARM anti-radiation missile
• Bombs:
• 5× 500 lb Paveway IV; or
• 3× 1000 lb (UK Mk 20) Paveway II/Enhanced Paveway II; or
• 2× 2000 lb Paveway III (GBU-24)/Enhanced Paveway III (EGBU-24); or
• BL755 cluster bombs; or
• Up to 2× JP233 or MW-1 munitions dispensers (for runway cratering operations)
• Up to 4× B61 or WE.177 tactical nuclear weapons
• Other: Up to 4× drop tanks for ferry flight/extended range/flight time

Avionics:

• RAPTOR aerial reconnaissance pod
• Rafael LITENING targeting pod; or
• TIALD laser designator pod
• GEC Sky Shadow electronic countermeasure pod