The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep-wing combat aircraft developed jointly by Britain, West Germany and Italy through the tri-national Panavia consortium of British Aerospace, MBB and Aeritalia, first flying in August 1974 and entering operational service around 1979 and 1980. Designed principally for high-speed, low-level penetration of enemy air defenses during the Cold War, the Tornado was built in three main variants: the IDS strike and interdictor version, of which 745 were produced; the ADV air-defense interceptor; and the ECR electronic-warfare and defense-suppression version, together totaling nearly a thousand aircraft. It remains the only aircraft not developed in the United States ever certified under NATO arrangements to carry American nuclear weapons, and while Britain's Royal Air Force retired its Tornados in 2019 after four decades of service, Germany, Italy and export customer Saudi Arabia have continued flying the type.
Facts
Weapon ClassTwin-engine, variable-sweep-wing multirole combat aircraft 1 Introduced Year Classification
Service Status Weapon Class
Weapon Class (category) Connections
Operated By
Source Wikipedia: Panavia Tornado
Source Wikipedia: Panavia Tornado
Used In
Source Wikipedia: Panavia Tornado
Source Wikipedia: Panavia Tornado
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Panavia Tornado
WikipediaLede, paragraph 1, sentence 1
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.
Lede, paragraph 2, sentence 2 (partial)
It first flew on 14 August 1974 and was introduced into service in 1979
service status
It remains the only aircraft not developed in the United States ever certified under NATO arrangements to carry American nuclear weapons, and while Britain's Royal Air Force retired its Tornados in 2019 after four decades of service, Germany, Italy and export customer Saudi Arabia have continued flying the type
- Weapon class classified from the entity's own sourced description text.
- Correction: a strike/interceptor combat jet, the specific fighter-aircraft category applies.
Used In: Bosnian War, Wikipedia article text
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.
Used In: Gulf War, Wikipedia article text
The Tornado was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF), Italian Air Force, and RSAF during the Gulf War of 1991, in which the Tornado conducted many low-altitude penetrating strike missions.
Used In: Iraq War, Wikipedia article text
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.
Used In: Kosovo War, Wikipedia article text
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.
Operated By: Royal Air Force, Wikipedia article text
The Tornado was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF), Italian Air Force, and RSAF during the Gulf War of 1991, in which the Tornado conducted many low-altitude penetrating strike missions.
Operated By: Luftwaffe, Wikipedia article text
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.
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