Panavia Tornado, Kemble 2011 ©Nigel Key
ROLE
Multirole / Strike Aircraft.
FIRST FLIGHT
14 August 1974.
The Tornado was developed and built by Panavia Aircraft GmbH which was a joint venture between British Aerospace, MBB and Aeritalia.
The first prototype was flown on the 14th of August 1974 by pilot Paul Millett who was delighted with the handling of the aircraft.
Minor modifications were made to reduce airflow disturbance by reshaping the air intakes and fuselage to minimise buffeting at supersonic speeds.
During landing, reverse thrust was used which tended to cause the aircraft to become unstable and oscillate. To counteract this, the nose wheel was fitted with a steering system connected with a yaw damper.
The Tornado made use of fly-by-wire (FBW) technology to stabilise the aircraft in flight. The FBW technology was developed with the use of a modified Sepecat Jaguar and a converted Lockheed F-104G Starfighter, both of which had a digital flight control system.
The Tornado carried the majority of air launched weapons in NATO's arsenal including unguided and laser guided bombs, anti-ship, anti-radiation missiles, anti-personnel mines and anti-runway munitions.
The Tornado is also equipped with on-board countermeasures such as Flares and Chaff. Underwing fuel tanks and a 'buddy store' aerial refuelling system were also available to extend the aircrafts range.
Over the years the Tornado was adapted to enable it to deploy improved weapons such as Paveway and Joint Attack Munition bombs and cruise missiles which replaced older weapons such as cluster bombs.
The Strike variants of the Tornado have limited air-to-air capability with AIM-9 Sidewinder or AIM-132 ASRAAM missiles.
The Tornado is also armed with two 27mm Mauser BK-27 revolver cannon which are mounted internally under the fuselage.
The Tornado was capable of deploying air-launched nuclear weapons with several Squadrons based in Germany equipped with WE.177 nuclear bomb, which was retired in 1988. The German and Italian Tornados were capable of deploying US B61 nuclear bombs.
PRODUCTION
The Panavia Tornado was produced from 1979 to 1998, with 990 built.
ENGINES
2 x Turbo-Union RB199-34R Mk103’s, producing 32,150 lb st.
ARMAMENT
2 x IWKA-Mauser 27mm cannon
19,840 lb (9,000 kg) Bomb/Rocket/Missile load
The first Tornado was delivered to the Royal Air Force and Luftwaffe on the 5th and 6th of June respectively with the first Italian Tornado being delivered on the 25th of September 1981.
The Tri-national Tornado Training Establishment (TTTE), which was based at RAF Cottesmore, opened on the 29th of January 1981 training all operating nations until the 31st of March 1999.
| Crew - 2 in tandem |
| Length - 54ft 10in (16.72m) |
| Wingspan - 45ft 8in (13.91m) |
| Height - 19ft 6in (5.95m) |
| Empty Weight - 30,620lb (13,890kg) |
| Max. Weight - 61,620lb (27,950kg) |
| Max. Speed - 921 mph (1,482 km/h) |
| Range - 2,431 miles (3,890 km) |
