Panavia Tornado
Panavia Aircraft GmbH · United Kingdom / West Germany / Italy · first flew 1974 · fighter
The Panavia Tornado is a twin-engine, variable-sweep wing combat aircraft built by a British, West German and Italian consortium for low-level strike and air defence.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | High-mounted, swept |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 2 × turbofan, fuselage-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | 16.72 m fuselage |
| T — Tail | Conventional |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Variable-sweep wings
- Twin tailpipes under tall fin
- Long pointed radome
Look for the broad variable-geometry wings that sweep from near-straight to sharply swept, paired afterburning nozzles beneath a tall swept fin, and the long tapering nose.
Specifications
- The Panavia Tornado has a length of 16.72 m (55 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 13.91 m (46 ft).
- Its maximum speed is 2400 km/h (1491 mph).
- Typical crew: 2.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
Developed from the late-1960s Multi-Role Combat Aircraft programme, the first prototype flew at Manching in August 1974. The Turbo-Union RB199-powered design was produced in interdictor/strike (IDS), air defence (ADV) and electronic-combat/reconnaissance (ECR) forms. Nearly 1,000 were built before production ended in 1998.
Variants
The IDS strike version equipped the RAF as the Tornado GR1 and later GR4. The lengthened ADV became the RAF's Tornado F3 interceptor with extended fuselage and longer-range radar. Germany and Italy operated IDS and ECR variants.
Where you'll see it
The Tornado was the backbone of RAF strike power for over three decades, flying from RAF Marham and Lossiemouth and seeing combat in the 1991 Gulf War, the Balkans, Iraq and over Libya and Syria. RAF GR4s retired in 2019, and preserved examples appear at RAF Cosford and the Newark Air Museum, with airworthy heritage flying seen at RIAT Fairford.
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