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115-679: The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine , variable-sweep wing multi-role combat aircraft , jointly developed and manufactured by Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany. There are three primary Tornado variants : the Tornado IDS ( interdictor / strike ) fighter-bomber , the Tornado ECR ( electronic combat / reconnaissance ) SEAD aircraft and the Tornado ADV (air defence variant) interceptor aircraft . The Tornado

230-473: A forward-looking infrared (FLIR) sensor under the aircraft's nose/cockpit, being designated ROSE II. The cockpits included new MFDs, HUDs, HOTAS controls, radar altimeters and RWRs. Additionally, 14 Mirage 5F fighters from the second batch were similarly upgraded but with newer systems and designated ROSE III. The FLIR sensors allow the Mirage 5 ROSE fighters to specialise in the night-time attack role. During

345-649: A great circle route. Hence, in case of an engine failure in a twinjet (like Boeing 777 ), the twin-jet could make emergency landings in fields in Canada , Alaska , eastern Russia , Greenland , Iceland , or the British Isles . The Boeing 777 has also been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration for flights between North America and Hawaii , which is the world's longest regular airline route with no diversion airports along

460-518: A podded engine usually mounted beneath, or occasionally above or within, each wing. Most notable examples of such a configuration are the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 . The second has one engine mounted on each side of the rear fuselage, close to its empennage , used by many business jets , although some airliners like the Fokker 70 , Douglas DC-9 and COMAC ARJ21 utilise such a design as well. In

575-613: A Tornado GR4 was on 4 April 1997. The RAF accepted its first delivery on 31 October 1997 and deliveries were completed in 2003. In 2005, the RSAF opted to have their Tornado IDSs undergo a series of upgrades to become equivalent to the RAF's GR4 configuration. On 21 December 2007 BAE signed a £210m contract for CUSP, the Capability Upgrade Strategy (Pilot). This project would see RAF GR4/4A improved in two phases, starting with

690-809: A Tornado equipped with parts made by 3D printing . The parts included a protective cover for the radio, a landing-gear guard and air-intake door support struts. The test demonstrated the feasibility of making replacement parts quickly and cheaply at the air base hosting the Tornado. The company claimed that, with some costing less than £100 to make, 3D printing of parts had saved more than £300,000 which potentially could reach more than £1.2 million by 2017. The first Tornado prototype made its first flight on 14 August 1974 from Ingolstadt Manching Airport , in West Germany . Deliveries of production Tornados began on 27 July 1979. The total number of Tornados delivered to

805-478: A distraction for pilots, and said that the solution will be implemented in a few weeks, but denied the need to fly night missions in Syria. The TV TAB displays are used for route planning, the forward-looking infra-red (FLIR) sensors, targeting pods such as TIALD (Thermal Imaging and Laser Designator) and CLDP (Convertible Laser Designator Pod). The original MRCA TV TAB DU navigation display (part number V22.498.90) has

920-470: A green CRT as the picture source. The original price for one CRT display version was €33,852.64. Due to the light environment, the picture tube was pushed to the limit due to the high brightness levels causing wear of the picture tube. An Active Matrix Liquid Crystal Displays ( AMLCD ) drop fit replacement with a digital screen TV TAB (NSN 5895-99-597-1323) was developed to replace the 'old' wear-sensitive CRT versions. The CRT versions are mainly recognisable by

1035-523: 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 (1.063 in) Mauser BK-27 revolver cannon internally mounted underneath the fuselage; the Tornado ADV was only armed with one cannon. When

1150-580: A more modern cockpit, a new ejection seat, a laser rangefinder , and canards to improve takeoff performance and overall maneuverability. A new government canceled the MIRSIP but SABCA was allowed to carry out the update, in order to sell the aircraft on the export market. After completion, the Belgian government sold all 20 aircraft to Chile, together with 4 non-upgraded Mirage 5BRs, and one non-upgraded Mirage 5BD. The development and subsequent installation of

1265-777: A pair of Luftwaffe Tornados flew reconnaissance missions over an anti-globalisation demonstration during the 33rd G8 summit in Heiligendamm . Following the mission, the German Defence Ministry admitted one aircraft had broken the minimum flying altitude and that mistakes were made in the handling of security of the summit. In 2007, a detachment of six Tornados of the Aufklärungsgeschwader 51 "Immelmann" (51st reconnaissance wing) were deployed to Mazar-i-Sharif , Northern Afghanistan, to support NATO forces. The decision to send Tornados to Afghanistan

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1380-562: A part of NATO 's campaign during the Bosnian War . The Tornados, operating from Piacenza , Italy, flew reconnaissance missions to survey damage inflicted by previous strikes and to scout new targets. These reconnaissance missions were reportedly responsible for a significant improvement in target selection throughout the campaign. In 1999, German Tornados participated in Operation Allied Force , NATO airstrikes against

1495-522: A quantity of Mirage 50s, receiving both new production as well as updated Armée de l'Air Mirage 5s. The Chilean aircraft were later modernised along the lines of the IAI Kfir and were called the ENAER Pantera. The Pantera incorporates fixed canards and other aerodynamic improvements, as well as advanced avionics . These aircraft have an extended nose to accommodate some of the new systems. In

1610-608: A request to Dassault from the Israeli Air Force . Since the weather over the Middle East is clear and sunny most of the time, the Israelis suggested removing the air intercept radar and its avionics, normally located behind the cockpit, from the standard Mirage IIIE to reduce cost and maintenance, and replacing them with more fuel storage for attack missions. In September 1966, the Israelis placed an order for 50 of

1725-747: A similar configuration to the Tornado) from 1964 to 1968. In 1968, West Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Canada formed a working group to examine replacements for the Lockheed F-104G Starfighter multi-role fighter-bomber, initially called the Multi Role Aircraft (MRA) , later renamed as the Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA) . As the partner nations' requirements were so diverse, it

1840-558: A simpler aircraft with outstanding manoeuvrability. An additional blow was struck when the German requirement reduced from an initial 600 aircraft to 324 in 1972. It has been suggested that Germany deliberately placed an unrealistically high initial order to secure the company headquarters and initial test flight in Germany rather than the UK, to have a bigger design influence. When the agreement

1955-478: A single seat Panavia 100 which West Germany initially preferred, and the twin-seat Panavia 200 which the RAF preferred. The aircraft was briefly called the Panavia Panther , and the project soon coalesced towards the two-seat option. In September 1971, the three governments signed an Intention to Proceed (ITP) document, at which point the aircraft was intended solely for the low-level strike mission, where it

2070-610: A small number of Tornado ECR aircraft. In 2001, EADS proposed a Tornado ECR variant with a greater electronic warfare capability for Australia. Production came to an end in 1998; the last batch of aircraft produced going to the Royal Saudi Air Force, who had ordered a total of 96 IDS Tornados. In June 2011, it was announced that the Tornado fleet had flown collectively over one million flying hours. Aviation author Jon Lake noted that "The Trinational Panavia Consortium produced just short of 1,000 Tornados, making it one of

2185-408: A specified distance from an available diversion airport. Overwater flights near diversion airports need not be ETOPS/LROPS-compliant. Since the 1990s, airlines have increasingly turned from four-engine or three-engine airliners to twin-engine airliners to operate transatlantic and transpacific flight routes. On a nonstop flight from America to Asia or Europe, the long-range aircraft usually follows

2300-507: A third Tornado prototype was seriously damaged by an incident involving pilot-induced pitch oscillation . During the type's development, aircraft designers of the era were beginning to incorporate features such as more sophisticated stability augmentation systems and autopilots. Aircraft such as the Tornado and the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon made use of these new technologies. Failure testing of

2415-541: A trijet aircraft) and Boeing worked on new widebody twinjet designs that would become the Airbus A330 and Boeing 777 , respectively. The MD-11's long range advantage was brief as it was soon nullified by the Airbus A330-300 and the extended-range Boeing 767-300ER and Boeing 777-200ER. The Airbus A320 twinjet stands out as the most produced jet airliner. The Boeing 777X is the world's largest twinjet, and

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2530-609: A wide-angle HUD ( head-up display ), improved cockpit displays, NVG ( night vision devices ) capabilities, new avionics , and a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver. The upgrade eased the integration of new weapons and sensors which were purchased in parallel, including the Storm Shadow cruise missile , the Brimstone anti-tank missile, Paveway III laser-guided bombs and the RAPTOR reconnaissance pod. The first flight of

2645-461: Is a French supersonic attack aircraft / fighter-bomber designed by Dassault Aviation during the 1960s and manufactured in France and other countries. It was derived from Dassault's popular Mirage III fighter and spawned several variants of its own, including the IAI Kfir . In Pakistan's service, the Mirage 5s are modified and are capable of nuclear weapons delivery . The Mirage 5 grew out of

2760-466: 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

2875-564: Is designed for air defence operations. It was capable of tracking up to 20 targets at ranges of up to 160 kilometres (100 mi). The Tornado was one of the earliest aircraft to be fitted with a digital data bus for data transmission. A Link 16 JTIDS integration on the F3 variant enabled the exchange of radar and other sensory information with nearby friendly aircraft. Some Tornado variants carry different avionics and equipment, depending on their mission. The Tornado ECR operated by Germany and Italy

2990-712: Is devoted to Suppression of Enemy Air Defences (SEAD) missions. The Tornado ECR is equipped with an emitter-locator system (ELS) to detect radar use. German ECRs have a Honeywell infrared imaging system for reconnaissance flights. RAF and RSAF Tornados have the Laser Range Finder and Marked Target Seekers (LRMTS) for targeting laser-guided munitions. In 1991, the RAF introduced TIALD, allowing Tornado GR1s to laser-designate their own targets. The GR1A and GR4A reconnaissance variants were equipped with TIRRS (Tornado Infrared Reconnaissance System), consisting of one SLIR (Sideways Looking Infra Red) sensor on each side of

3105-404: Is needed to 'create' the desired images for use in the airplane. To power the display unit, a three phase 115 VAC 400 Hz including neutral and a 28 VDC signal have to be supplied to the display unit. The CRT version has a Low Voltage Power Supply (LVPS) for creating the needed low voltage signals. There's also a High Voltage Power Supply (HVPS) for creating the desired high voltage for

3220-474: Is not an issue, as one of the engines is more than powerful enough to keep the aircraft aloft (see below). Mostly, ETOPS certification involves maintenance and design requirements ensuring that a failure of one engine cannot make the other one fail also. The engines and related systems need to be independent and (in essence) independently maintained. ETOPS/LROPS is often incorrectly thought to apply only to long overwater flights, but it applies to any flight more than

3335-485: Is the current engine control unit for RB199 engines superseding the analogue MECU ( Main Engine Control Unit ) also known as CUE. Being designed for low-level operations, the Tornado required modification to perform in medium level operations that the RAF adopted in the 1990s. The RAF's GR1 fleet was extensively re-manufactured as Tornado GR4s. Upgrades on Tornado GR4s included a forward looking infrared ,

3450-518: The 777X in November 2013, while then-CEO Fabrice Brégier preferred to focus on product improvement rather than all-new concepts for 10 years. It would have a 10-abreast economy like the 777; its 565 m (6,081 sq ft) wing, slightly more than the 747-8, would have an 80 m (262 ft) span, as wide as the A380 , for a 892,900 lb (405 t) MTOW compared to 775,000 lb (352 t) for

3565-529: The BAC/Dassault AFVG (from "Anglo-French Variable Geometry") project in 1965, but this had ended with French withdrawal in 1967. Britain continued to develop a variable-geometry aircraft similar to the proposed AFVG, and sought new partners to achieve this. West German EWR with Boeing then with Fairchild-Hiller and Republic Aviation had been developing design studies of the swing-wing EWR-Fairchild-Hiller A400 AVS Advanced Vertical Strike (which has

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3680-399: The Boeing 777 , Boeing 787 and Airbus A350 have matched or surpassed older quad-jet designs such as the Boeing 747 and Airbus A340 in these aspects, and twinjets have been more successful in terms of sales than quad-jets. In 2012, Airbus studied a 470-seat twinjet competitor for the Boeing 747-8 with lower operating costs expected between 2023 and 2030, revived after Boeing launched

3795-626: The Falklands War in 1982. As a measure of solidarity, the Peruvians transferred ten of their Mirage 5Ps to Argentina, under the name Mirage Mara , to help alleviate its losses. South Africa purchased five Nesher trainers for trials during its own Atlas Cheetah fighter programme. All the aircraft were eventually upgraded to Cheetah D standard. Chile incorporated some Mirage 5s under name Mirage Elkan . A total of 582 Mirage 5s were built, including 51 Israeli Neshers. In 1968,

3910-813: The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War . This was Germany's first offensive air mission since World War II. The ECR aircraft escorted various allies' aircraft while carrying several AGM-88 HARM missiles to counter attempted use of radar against the allied aircraft. During the Kosovo hostilities, Germany's IDS Tornados routinely conducted reconnaissance flights to identify both enemy ground forces and civilian refugees within Yugoslavia. The German Tornados flew 2108 hours and 446 sorties, firing 236 HARM missiles at hostile targets. In June 2007,

4025-696: The German Air Force was 247, including 35 ECR variants. Originally Tornados equipped five fighter-bomber wings ( Geschwader ), with one tactical conversion unit and four front-line wings, replacing the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. When one of the two Tornado wings of the German Navy was disbanded in 1994, its aircraft were used to re-equip a Luftwaffe's reconnaissance wing formerly equipped with McDonnell Douglas RF-4E Phantoms . 14 German Tornados undertook combat operations as

4140-569: The Rafael Litening II laser designator pod and GBU-24 Paveway III laser-guided bombs. The ASSTA 2 upgrade began in 2005, primarily consisting of several new digital avionics systems and a new ECM suite; these upgrades are to be only applied to 85 Tornados (20 ECRs and 65 IDSs), as the Tornado is being replaced in part by the Eurofighter Typhoon . The ASSTA 3 upgrade programme, started in 2008, will introduce support for

4255-511: 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. Britain considered the selection of Rolls-Royce to develop the advanced engine for the MRCA to be essential, and was strongly opposed to adopting an engine from an American manufacturer, to the point where the UK might have withdrawn over

4370-722: The 1970s, Australia considered joining the MRCA programme to find a replacement for their ageing Dassault Mirage IIIs ; ultimately the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet was selected to meet the requirement. Canada similarly opted for the F/A-18 after considering the Tornado. Japan considered the Tornado in the 1980s, along with the F-16 and F/A-18, before selecting the Mitsubishi F-2 . In the 1990s, both Taiwan and South Korea expressed interest in acquiring

4485-517: The 1991 Gulf War , 18 Belgian Mirage 5s were deployed to Turkey alongside German Alpha Jets and Italian F-104s under a NATO -based operation to protect Turkey against potential Iraqi attacks. In February 2019, IAF jets violated Pakistani airspace and bombed a wooded area in Balakot . Resultantly, Pakistan launched retaliatory airstrikes (Codenamed " Operation Swift Retort ") on military installations at Indian Administered Kashmir . During

4600-753: The 777-200LR variant has the world's second longest aircraft range (behind Airbus A350-900 ULR). Other Boeing twinjets include the 767 , 757 (With the latter having stopped production, but still in commercial service) and 787 . Competitor Airbus produces the A320 family , the A330 , and the A350 . Some modern commercial airplanes still use four engines ( quad-jets ) like the Airbus A380 and Boeing 747-8 , which are classified as very large aircraft (over 400 seats in mixed-class configurations). Four engines are still used on

4715-432: The 777X, with a composite structure for an operating empty weight of 467,400 lb (212 t), and a 8,150 nmi (15,090 km) range at Mach 0.85. When flying far from diversionary airports (so called ETOPS/LROPS flights), the aircraft must be able to reach an alternate on the remaining engine within a specified time in case of one engine failure. When aircraft are certified according to ETOPS standards, thrust

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4830-467: The AMLCD upgrade was the intended significant reduction in life cycle costs. But it's said that the newer AMLCD version fail rather quickly due to the more sensitive and complex digital electronics compared to the much simpler design of the original CRT display. The old and newer version are a masterpiece of state of the art engineering and both are very well built. For example there's a diagnostic connector at

4945-622: The Belgian government ordered 106 Mirage 5s from Dassault to re-equip No 3 Wing at Bierset air base. All aircraft but the first one were to be license-built by SABCA in Belgium. Component production at the SABCA Haren plant near Brussels was followed by assembly at the SABCA plant at Gosselies airfield, near Charleroi. The ATAR engines were produced by FN Moteurs at this company's Liège plant. SABCA production included three versions: Mirage 5BA for

5060-496: The CRT picture tube. Since the newer AMLCD has no CRT picture tube, the high voltages are not needed and the mechanical and electrical design is completely different except for the connections, mounting points and functionality. The newer AMLCD version 'only' needs 28 VDC for functionality. But since a drop fit replacement is mandatory, the AMLCD version has a built in three phase 115VAC 400 Hz conversion to 28 VDC. By removing

5175-739: The Concorde. Testing revealed that a nose-wheel steering augmentation system, connecting with the yaw damper , was necessary to counteract the destabilising effect produced by deploying the thrust reverser during the landing roll. From 1967 until 1984 Soviet KGB agents were provided details on the Tornado by the head of the West German Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm Planning department, Manfred Rotsch. Two prototypes were lost in accidents, both of which had been primarily caused by poor piloting decisions and errors leading to two ground collision incidents;

5290-626: The IIIE's twin DEFA guns, but added two additional pylons, for a total of seven. Maximum warload was 4,000 kg (8,800 lb). Provision for the SEPR rocket engine was deleted. Rising tensions in the Middle East led French President Charles de Gaulle to embargo the Israeli Mirage 5s on 3 June 1967. The Mirages continued to roll off the production line, even though they were embargoed, and by 1968

5405-488: The MRCA. The project's aim was to produce an aircraft capable of undertaking missions in the tactical strike, reconnaissance, air defence, and maritime roles. Various concepts, including alternative fixed-wing and single-engine designs, were studied while defining the aircraft. The Netherlands pulled out of the project in 1970, citing that the aircraft was too complicated and technical for the RNLAF 's preferences, which had sought

5520-705: The MS2 attack avionics system from the Dassault-Dornier Alpha Jet . In 1982, Pakistan Chief of Air Staff ACM ( Gen. ) Anwar Shamim acquired an additional squadron of the Mirage 5 from France to provide effective support to the Navy. In 1978 and 1980, Israel sold a total of 35 of their Neshers plus 4 Nesher trainer aircraft (Nesher Ts) to Argentina , where they were locally known first as Daggers and after their upgrade as Fingers . The Argentines lost two Mirage IIIEAs and twelve Daggers during

5635-487: The Mirage IIIE, the Mirage 5 was popular with export customers, with different export variants fitted with a wide range of different avionics. While the Mirage 5 had been originally oriented to the clear-weather attack role, with some avionic fits it was refocused to the air-combat mission. As electronic systems became more compact and powerful, it was possible to provide the Mirage 5 with increased capability, even though

5750-682: 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 . The Tornado

5865-600: The RAF and German Air Force on 5 and 6 June 1979 respectively. The first Italian Tornado was delivered on 25 September 1981. On 29 January 1981, the Tri-National Tornado Training Establishment (TTTE) officially opened at RAF Cottesmore , remaining active in training pilots from all operating nations until 31 March 1999. The 500th Tornado to be produced was delivered to West Germany on 19 December 1987. Export customers were sought after West Germany withdrew its objections to exporting

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5980-488: The RAF began installing TARDIS on the GR4 fleet in 2004. The primary flight controls of the Tornado are a fly-by-wire hybrid, consisting of an analogue quadruplex Command and Stability Augmentation System (CSAS) connected to a digital Autopilot & Flight Director System (AFDS). In addition a level of mechanical reversion capacity was retained to safeguard against potential failure. To enhance pilot awareness, artificial feel

6095-452: 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

6210-495: The Tornado can sweep its wings forwards to the 25-degree position, and deploy its full-span flaps and leading edge slats to allow the aircraft to fly at lower speeds. These features, in combination with the thrust reverser -equipped engines, give the Tornado excellent low-speed handling and landing characteristics. 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

6325-525: The Tornado conducted many low-altitude penetrating strike missions. The Tornados of various services were also used in the Bosnian War , Kosovo War , Iraq War , in Libya during the 2011 Libyan civil war , as well as smaller roles in Afghanistan, Yemen, and Syria . Including all variants, 990 aircraft were built. During the 1960s, aeronautical designers looked to variable-geometry wing designs to gain

6440-462: The Tornado differs in being a multi-role aircraft with more advanced onboard systems and avionics. The level of wing sweep (i.e. the angle of the wings in relation to the fuselage) can be altered in flight at the pilot's control. The variable wing can adopt any sweep angle between 25 degrees and 67 degrees, with a corresponding speed range for each angle. Some Tornado ADVs were outfitted with an automatic wing-sweep system to reduce pilot workload. When

6555-423: The Tornado engine and engine controls, the prototype was safely capable of reaching supercruise , but the engines had severe safety issues at high altitude while trying to decelerate. At high altitude and low turbine speed the compressor did not provide enough pressure to hold back the combustion pressure and would result in a violent vibration as the combustion pressure backfired into the intake. To avoid this effect

6670-458: The Tornado intake were unable to produce a functional Concorde style intake despite having data from the Concorde team. To make the problem worse, their management team incorrectly filed a patent on the Concorde design, and then tried to sue the British engineers who had provided the design to them. The German lawyers realised that the British had provided the designs to the German team, and requested further information to help their engineers overcome

6785-524: 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. In the decades since the Tornado's introduction, all of the Tornado operators have undertaken various upgrade and modification programmes to allow new weapons to be used by their squadrons. Amongst

6900-443: The Tornado programme. Research from the supersonic airliner Concorde contributed to the development and final design of the RB199 and of the engine control units. To operate efficiently across a wide range of conditions and speeds up to Mach 2, the RB199 and several other engines make use of variable intake ramps to control the air flow. The hydraulic system is pressurised by syphoning power from both or either operational engine;

7015-403: The Tornado uses a variable-sweep wing. This approach had been adopted by earlier aircraft, such as the American Grumman F-14 Tomcat , which is the most similar in mission flexibility. The swing-wing was also used by the older 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

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7130-457: The Tornado's triplex analogue command and stability augmentation system (CSAS) was conducted on a series of realistic flight control rigs; the variable-sweep wings in combination with varying, and frequently very heavy, payloads complicated the clearance process. The contract for the Batch 1 aircraft was signed on 29 July 1976. The first flight of a production aircraft was on 10 July 1979 by ZA319 at BAe Warton. The first aircraft were delivered to

7245-416: The aircraft and accepted a refund. Some sources claim that cooperation with France resumed outside the public's eye and Israel received 50 Mirage 5 s in crates from the French Air Force , while the French took over the 50 aircraft originally intended for Israel, as Mirage 5F s. Officially, Israel claimed to have built the aircraft after obtaining complete blueprints, naming them IAI Nesher . Like

7360-425: 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;

7475-405: The aircraft could not decelerate. The British Ministry of Supply assigned Chief Engineer Ted Talbot from the Concorde development team to provide intake design assistance to the Tornado development team in order to overcome these issues, which they hesitantly agreed to after noting that the Concorde intake data had apparently already been leaked to the Soviet Union. The German engineers working on

7590-496: The aircraft from France, redeveloping and redesigning it at the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex . In the first phase of the project, the PAF acquired 33 former Royal Australian Air Force Mirage III fighters which were upgraded and designated ROSE I . The PAF then procured surplus Mirage 5F fighters in the late 1990s from the French Air Force in two batches. Around 20 fighters from the first batch were upgraded with new cockpits, navigation/attack suites , defensive aids systems and

7705-557: The aircraft. For long range missions, the Tornado has a retractable refuelling probe . 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 – the use of dedicated single role aircraft for specialist purposes such as battlefield reconnaissance, maritime patrol duties, or dedicated electronic countermeasures (ECM) were phased out – either by standard Tornados or modified variants, such as

7820-416: The aircraft; Saudi Arabia was the only export customer of the Tornado. The agreement to purchase the Tornado was part of the Al-Yamamah arms deal between British Aerospace and the Saudi government. Oman had committed to purchasing eight Tornado F2s and the equipment to operate them for a total value of £250 million in August 1985, but cancelled the order in 1990 due to financial difficulties. During

7935-560: The airstrikes, two Dassault Mirage-5PAs from the No. 15 Squadron dropped their H-4 SOW glide bombs which were guided to their specific targets by Weapon System Officers seated in Dassault Mirage-IIIDAs via data link . The operation was a success and the aircraft returned safely. Data from Encyclopedia of World Military Aircraft General characteristics Performance Armament Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists The initial version of this article

8050-403: The armaments that the Tornado has been adapted to deploy are the Enhanced Paveway and Joint Direct Attack Munition bombs, and modern cruise missiles such as the Taurus and Storm Shadow missiles. These upgrades have increased the Tornado's capabilities and combat accuracy. Precision weapons such as cruise missiles have replaced older munitions such as cluster bombs . Strike variants have

8165-417: The back panel for quick troubleshooting. The display unit is eventually a rather 'dumb' device. The original display unit is 'just' a display and a keypad. To show a picture, the separate video signal, vertical and horizontal synchronisation signals have to be fed into the display unit since there's no internal electronics for synchronisation separation of the video signal. The additional waveform generator (WFG)

8280-447: The batch was complete and the Israelis had provided final payments. In late 1969 , the Israelis, who had pilots in France testing the aircraft, requested that the aircraft be transferred to Corsica , in theory to allow them to continue flight training during the winter. The French government became suspicious when the Israelis also tried to obtain long-range fuel tanks and cancelled the move. The Israelis finally gave up trying to acquire

8395-478: The decision to retire 90 Tornados from service with the Luftwaffe. This led to a reduction in its Tornado strength to four wings by September 2005. On 13 January 2004, the then German Defence Minister Peter Struck announced further major changes to the German armed forces. A major part of this announcement was the plan to cut the German fighter fleet from 426 in early 2004 to 265 by 2015. The German Tornado force

8510-491: The development cost had been higher than predicted, in part due to the ambitious performance requirements. At the time of the Tornado's introduction to service, the turbine blades of the engine suffered from a shorter life span than desired, which was rectified by the implementation of design revisions upon early-production engines. Several uprated engines were developed and used on both the majority of Tornado ADVs and Germany's Tornado ECRs. The DECU ( Digital Engine Control Unit )

8625-419: The distance required to land safely. To fully deploy the thrust reverser during landings, the yaw damper is connected to the steering of the nosewheel to provide greater stability. In August 1974, the first RB199 powered flight of a prototype Tornado occurred and the engine completed its qualification tests in late 1978. The final production standard engine met both reliability and performance standards, though

8740-456: The early 1990s, Dassault upgraded a batch of Venezuelan Mirage IIIEVs and 5s to Mirage 50 standards. In the 1990s, the PAF launched a Mid-life update (MLU) program, codenamed as Project ROSE (Retrofit Of Strike Element), to its aging Mirage III and Mirage 5 aircraft with modern avionics provided by French, Italian, and Pakistani software conglomerates. The PAF acquired blueprint drawings of

8855-413: The engine controls would automatically increase the minimum idle setting as altitude increased, until at very high altitudes the idle setting was so high, however, that it was close to maximum dry thrust. This resulted in one of the test aircraft being stuck in a mach 1.2 supercruise at high altitude and having to reduce speed by turning the aircraft, because the idle setting at that altitude was so high that

8970-420: The first prototype took flight. 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,

9085-439: The flight stability system. The Tornado incorporates a combined navigation/attack Doppler radar that simultaneously scans for targets and conducts fully automated terrain-following for low-level flight operations. Being able to conduct all-weather hands-off low-level flight was considered one of the core advantages of the Tornado. The Tornado ADV had a different radar system to other variants, designated AI.24 Foxhunter , as it

9200-730: The fuselage forward of the engine intakes to capture oblique images, and a single IRLS ( InfrarRed LineScan ) sensor mounted on the fuselage's underside to provide vertical images. TIRRS recorded images on six S-VHS video tapes . The newer RAPTOR reconnaissance pod replaced the built-in TIRRS system. 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,

9315-416: The ground-attack role, Mirage 5BR for the reconnaissance role and Mirage 5BD for training and conversion. By the end of the 1980s, a MIRage Safety Improvement Program (MIRSIP) was agreed to by parliament, calling for 20 low-time Mirages (15 Mirage 5BAs and 5 Mirage 5BDs) to be upgraded. Initial plans included a new more powerful engine, but this idea was abandoned to limit cost. The upgrade eventually included

9430-455: The hydraulics are completely contained within the airframe rather than integrating with the engine to improve safety and maintainability. In case of double-engine, or double-generator, failure, the Tornado has a single-use battery capable of operating the fuel pump and hydraulics for up to 13 minutes. Relatively rarely among fighter aircraft, the RB199 is fitted with thrust reversers to decrease

9545-454: The intake ramps. Aerodynamic forces could force the intakes into the improper position, and so they should have the ability to control the engines if this occurs. The Tornado intake system did not allow for this. Due to the behaviour of the German management team, the British engineers declined to share this information, and so the Tornado was not equipped with the more advanced intake design of

9660-710: The integration of the Paveway IV bomb and a communications upgrade, followed by a new tactical datalink in Phase B. Beginning in 2000, German IDS and ECR Tornados received the ASSTA 1 (Avionics System Software Tornado in Ada) upgrade. ASSTA 1 involved a replacement weapons computer, new GPS and Laser Inertial navigation systems. The new computer allowed the integration of the HARM III, HARM 0 Block IV/V and Taurus KEPD 350 missiles,

9775-530: The introduction of ETOPS rules that allowed twin-engine jets to fly long-distance routes that were previously off-limits to them, Airbus was able to further develop the A300 as a medium- to long-range airliner to increased sales; Boeing launched its widebody twinjet, the Boeing 767 , in response. In the 1980s the Boeing 727 was discontinued, as its central engine bay would require a prohibitively expensive redesign to accommodate quieter high-bypass turbofans, and it

9890-472: 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

10005-508: The issue. In September 1969, Rolls-Royce's RB199 engine was selected to power the MRCA. One advantage over the US competition was that a technology transfer between the partner nations had been agreed; the engine was to be developed and manufactured by a joint company, Turbo-Union . The programme was delayed by Rolls-Royce's entry into receivership in 1971. however the nature of the multinational collaboration process helped avoid major disruption of

10120-449: The largest cargo aircraft capable of transporting outsize cargo , including strategic airlifters . Twin-jets tend to be more fuel-efficient than trijet (three engine) and quad-jet (four engine) aircraft. As fuel efficiency in airliners is a high priority, many airlines have been increasingly retiring trijet and quad-jet designs in favor of twinjets in the twenty-first century. The trijet designs were phased out first, in particular due to

10235-501: The laser-targeted Joint Direct Attack Munition along with further software changes. In January 2016, Bild newspaper stated that the newest upgrade of the ASSTA suite to version 3.1, which includes colour multifunctional LCD screens in place of monochrome CRT displays, is interfering with helmet-mounted night-vision optical displays worn by pilots, rendering German Tornado bombers deployed to Syria useless for night missions. The defence ministry admitted that bright cockpit lights could be

10350-614: The maneuverability and efficient cruise of straight wings with the speed of swept wing designs. The United Kingdom had cancelled the procurement of the BAC TSR-2 tactical strike and reconnaissance aircraft in 1965 and then -in 1967 - the US General Dynamics F-111K aircraft that was supposed to fulfil the same role, and was still looking for a replacement for its Avro Vulcan strategic bomber and Blackburn Buccaneer strike aircraft. Britain and France had initiated

10465-410: The more complicated design and maintenance issues of the middle engine mounted on the stabilizer. Early twinjets were not permitted by ETOPS restrictions to fly long-haul trans-oceanic routes, as it was thought that they were unsafe in the event of failure of one engine, so quad-jets were used. Quad-jets also had higher carrying capacity than comparable earlier twinjets. However, later twinjets such as

10580-598: The most successful postwar bomber programs". In 2008, AirForces Monthly said of the Tornado: "For more than a quarter of a century ... the most important military aircraft in Western Europe." The Panavia Tornado is a multirole, twin-engined aircraft 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

10695-465: The new Atar 09K-50 engine led to the next Mirage variant, the Mirage 50 , during the 1970s. The uprated engine gave the Mirage 50 better takeoff and climb characteristics than its predecessors. The Mirage 50 also incorporated new avionics, such as a Cyrano IV radar system. However, despite these upgrades, it did not prove popular in export sales as the Mirage 5 itself was becoming obsolete. Chile ordered

10810-474: The new aircraft. Due to customer preference some variants of the Mirage 5 were radar-equipped. The first Mirage 5 flew on 19 May 1967. It looked much like the Mirage III, except that it had a long slender nose that extended the aircraft's length by about half a metre. A pitot tube was distinctively moved from the tip of the nose to below the nose in the majority of Mirage 5 variants. The Mirage 5 retained

10925-532: The only export operator of the Tornado, in addition to the three original partner nations. A training and evaluation unit operating from RAF Cottesmore , the Tri-National Tornado Training Establishment , maintained a level of international co-operation beyond the production stage. The Tornado was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF), Italian Air Force , and RSAF during the Gulf War of 1991, in which

11040-471: The problems with the Tornado intake, but Chief Engineer Talbot refused. According to Talbot, the Concorde engineers had determined the issue with the Tornado intake was that the engine did not respond to unexpected changes in the intake position, and therefore the engine was running at the wrong setting for a given position of the intake ramps. This was because the Concorde had similar issues due to control pressure not being high enough to maintain proper angles of

11155-522: The programme; Canada had found the project politically unpalatable; there was a perception in political circles that much of the manufacturing and specifications were focused on Western Europe. France had made a favourable offer to Belgium on the Dassault Mirage 5 . On 26 March 1969, four partner nations – United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, agreed to form a multinational company, Panavia Aircraft GmbH, to develop and manufacture

11270-552: The rear avionics bay had been deleted, therefore in some sub-versions, the result was a "reinvented" Mirage IIIE. Reconnaissance and two-seat versions of the Mirage 5 were sold, with the designation Mirage 5R , and Mirage 5D respectively. The Mirage 5 was sold to Abu Dhabi , Belgium , Colombia , Egypt , Gabon , Libya , Pakistan , Peru , Venezuela , and Zaire , with the usual list of subvariant designations and variations in kit. The Belgian aircraft were fitted with mostly US avionics, and some Egyptian aircraft were fitted with

11385-471: The rear three phase conversion power supply plug-in board and applying 28 VDC (<4.1 A) to the power supply board, the device can be powered for avionics enthusiast use. The AMLCD has a built in menu for selecting the airplane type: GR1, GR4 or F3, a self test and a display test like a grid pattern and color bars shown in the picture. BAE Systems announced that, in December 2013, it had test-flown

11500-677: The requirement that an aircraft be able to continue a takeoff if an engine fails after the takeoff decision speed is reached. Thus, with all engines operating, trijets must be able to produce at least 150% of the minimum thrust required to climb and quad-jets 133%. Conversely, since a twinjet will lose half of its total thrust if an engine fails, they are required to produce 200% of the minimum thrust required to climb when both engines are operating. Because of this, twinjets typically have higher thrust-to-weight ratios than aircraft with more engines, and are thus able to accelerate and climb faster. Dassault Mirage 5 The Dassault Mirage 5

11615-641: The third configuration both engines are within the fuselage, side-by-side, used by most fighters since the 1960s. Later fighters using this configuration include the Su-27 'Flanker', the F-15 Eagle , and the F-22 Raptor . The first twinjet to fly was the German fighter prototype Heinkel He 280 , flying in April 1941 with a pair of nacelled Heinkel HeS 8 axial-flow turbojets. The twinjet configuration

11730-425: The two white domes at the top of the display containing the light sensors for automatic brightness regulation and the white buttons. The newer digital version is mainly recognisable by the black buttons with big white dots on them. The replacement AMLCD version has a color display instead of the original green monochrome display. A new feature is that the AMLCD has a bezel that reduces the angle of view. The main goal of

11845-450: The way. On large passenger jets, the cost of the engines makes up a significant proportion of the plane's final cost. Each engine also requires separate service, paperwork, and certificates. Having two larger engines as opposed to three or four smaller engines will typically significantly reduce both the purchase and maintenance costs of a plane. Regulations governing the required thrust levels for transport aircraft are typically based upon

11960-540: The wings are swept back, the exposed wing area is lowered and drag is significantly decreased, which is conducive to performing high-speed low-level flight. The weapons pylons pivot with the angle of the variable-sweep wings so that the stores point in the direction of flight and do not hinder any wing positions. In development, significant attention was given to the Tornado's short-field take-off and landing ( STOL ) performance. Germany, in particular, encouraged this design aspect. For shorter take-off and landing distances,

12075-632: The wings to Aeritalia (now Leonardo ) in Italy. Similarly, tri-national worksharing was used for engines and equipment. A separate multinational company, Turbo-Union , was formed in June 1970 to develop and build the RB199 engines for the aircraft, with ownership split 40% Rolls-Royce , 40% MTU , and 20% FIAT . At the conclusion of the project definition phase in May 1970, the concepts were reduced to two designs;

12190-431: Was built into the flight controls, such as the centrally located stick . Because the Tornado's variable wings enable the aircraft to drastically alter its flight envelope, the artificial responses adjust automatically to wing profile changes and other changes to flight attitude. As a large variety of munitions and stores can be outfitted, the resulting changes to the aircraft's flight dynamics are routinely compensated for by

12305-491: Was controversial: one political party launched an unsuccessful legal bid to block the deployment as unconstitutional. In support of the Afghanistan mission, improvements in the Tornado's reconnaissance equipment were accelerated; enhancing the Tornado's ability to detect hidden improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The German Tornados were withdrawn from Afghanistan in November 2010. Defence cuts announced in March 2003 resulted in

12420-517: Was decided to develop a single aircraft that could perform a variety of missions that were previously undertaken by a fleet of different aircraft. Britain joined the MRCA group in 1968, represented by Air Vice-Marshal Michael Giddings , and a memorandum of agreement was drafted between Britain, West Germany, and Italy in May 1969. By the end of 1968, the prospective purchases from the six countries amounted to 1,500 aircraft. Canada and Belgium had departed before any long-term commitments had been made to

12535-431: Was delightful... the actual flight went so smoothly that I did begin to wonder whether this was not yet another simulation". Flight testing led to the need for minor modifications. Airflow disturbances were corrected by re-profiling the engine intakes and the fuselage to minimise surging and buffeting at supersonic speeds. According to Jim Quinn, programmer of the Tornado development simulation software and engineer on

12650-443: Was developed and built by Panavia Aircraft GmbH , a tri-national consortium consisting of British Aerospace (previously British Aircraft Corporation ), MBB of West Germany, and Aeritalia of Italy. 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 types of aircraft in the adopting air forces. The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) became

12765-464: Was finalised, the United Kingdom and West Germany each had a 42.5% stake of the workload, with the remaining 15% going to Italy; this division of the production work was heavily influenced by international political bargaining. The front fuselage and tail assembly was assigned to BAC (now BAE Systems ) in the United Kingdom; the centre fuselage to MBB (now part of Airbus ) in West Germany; and

12880-656: Was soon supplanted by twinjets for the narrow-body market; Airbus with the A320 , and Boeing with the 757 and updated "classic" variants of the 737 . During that decade only McDonnell Douglas continued development of the trijet design with an update to the DC-10 , the MD-11 , which initially had a range advantage over its closest medium wide-body competitors which were twinjets, the in-production Boeing 767 and Airbus A300/A310. In contrast to McDonnell Douglas sticking with their existing trijet configuration, Airbus (which never produced

12995-696: Was to be reduced to 85, with the type expected to remain in service with the Luftwaffe until 2025. The aircraft being retained have been undergoing a service life extension programme. Currently, the Luftwaffe operates Tornados with Tactical Wings Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 33 in Cochem/ Büchel Air Base , Rhineland-Palatinate and with Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 51 "Immelmann" in Jagel, Schleswig-Holstein . Twin-engine There are three common configurations of twinjet aircraft. The first, common on large aircraft such as airliners, has

13110-484: Was used for short-range narrow-bodied aircraft such as the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 and Boeing 737 . The Airbus A300 was initially not successful when first produced as a short-range widebody, as airlines operating the A300 on short-haul routes had to reduce frequencies to try and fill the high-capacity aircraft, and lost passengers to airlines operating more frequent narrow-body flights. However, after

13225-518: Was viewed as a viable threat to Soviet defences in that role. It was at this point that Britain's Chief of the Defence Staff announced, "two-thirds of the fighting front line will be composed of this single, basic aircraft type". The first of fifteen development aircraft (nine prototypes, P01 to P09, and six pre-series, PS11 to PS 16) flew on 14 August 1974 at Manching , Germany; the pilot, Paul Millett described his experience: "Aircraft handling

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