At the height of the Cold War, the European Panavia Tornado GmbH consortium developed a new variant of the Tornado aircraft—the Tornado Air Defense Variant (ADV)—which took to the skies for its maiden flight forty-five years ago on October 27, 1979.

The Panavia Tornado aircraft were jointly developed and produced by the European consortium of the United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy. In addition to the Tornado ADV, the aircraft was produced in two more variants: the Tornado IDS (interdictor/strike) and the Tornado ECR (electronic combat/reconnaissance).

The development of Tornado ADV started in 1976. The aircraft was initially developed only for use by the Royal Air Force (RAF). Its main objective was to intercept Soviet bombers across the North Sea to prevent a potential air-launched nuclear strike on London.

In fact, the need to develop the aircraft was felt due to the swelling fleet of bombers in the Soviet Union, particularly due to the threat posed by the Tu-22M supersonic bomber. 

The development of Tornado ADV was rather swift because it was based on the multi-role Tornado IDS. By the 9th of August 1979, the first prototype was completed after two years of production and testing. On October 27, 1979, the prototype, piloted by David Eagles, made its first flight from Warton after only two months of development.

The successful flight test revealed that the aircraft’s supersonic acceleration was better than that of the Tornado IDS, the main fighter bomber of the time.

This incredible speed was maintained even when the Tornado ADV was loaded with a full complement of weapons. The test flight data was gathered using real-time telemetry, which transmitted real-time data from the aircraft to the ground personnel.

Following the first successful flight, two more prototypes of the aircraft flew their maiden flight the next year. The first production model, known as the Tornado F2, was successfully tested and went into service with the Royal Air Force in 1986.

However, owing to some development challenges, the Tornado F2 lacked essential features like a potent radar or an automatic wing sweep. It could only carry fewer weapons than the IDS variant. Only 18 F-2 Tornado ADVs were constructed.

This gave way to the development of an upgraded variant of this aircraft: the F-3 Tornado ADV. The F-3 variant debuted in 1989. Among other enhancements, the Tornado F-3 became the definitive version flown by the RAF, thanks to its improved RB.199 Mk 104 engines, increased missile capability, and automated wing sweep control system.

Although the ADV model shared 80% of its characteristics with the Tornado IDS variant, the main difference was the GEC-Marconi/Ferranti AI.24 Foxhunter radar, which necessitated a completely new nose design for the ADV. Foxhunter allowed these planes to detect enemies out of visual range in any weather.

Furthermore, the ADV versions only had a single 27mm Mauser BK-27 automatic cannon mounted in the lower right corner of the forward fuselage, whereas the IDS had two similar weapons, one on each side. The two aircraft also had differing under-fuselage hard point arrangements for various types of ammunition.

With a maximum overall payload limit of almost 20,000 pounds, the ADV and IDS were both capable of carrying up to four under-wing hard points. The stores were kept in the proper location by the rotation of these stations as the wings moved.

Tornado ADV had long-range beyond-visual-range missiles like the Skyflash and was later equipped with the AMRAAM to carry out its primary anti-bomber mission. The aircraft could also stay in the air for extended periods and maintained its airborne patrol over the North Sea and Northern Atlantic.

Along with being one of the first aircraft to carry a digital data bus—a device that transfers data between onboard computers—the Tornado could also exchange its radar and targeting data with other aircraft using JTIDS/Link 16. Moreover, unlike its predecessors, like the Phantom, the Tornado could easily operate from short ‘austere’ airstrips. It also had double the range and loiter time, as well as a higher acceleration rate.

No Game Changers But A Force To Reckon With

During their service life, the aircraft were deployed to several battle zones, including the Gulf War of 1991. During the Gulf War, the Tornado F3 still had several flaws, including outdated Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) radar and a lack of secure communication equipment.

They mostly conducted patrols farther back from Iraqi airspace, where confrontations with hostile aircraft were less likely. No Tornado F3s engaged enemy aircraft and were only relegated to conducting patrols.

Several Tornado F3s were employed to escort NATO aircraft involved in Operation Deny Flight over Bosnia from 1993 to 1995. The aircraft also carried out combat air patrols during ‘Operation Allied Force’ in Yugoslavia in 1999. At the time, some reports suggested that the Tornado F3 was difficult to keep operationally ready while stationed outside of the United Kingdom during these lengthy overseas deployments.

No F3 Tornado ADV ever engaged an enemy aircraft, and several critics stated that its contemporaries, like F-GF, had better capabilities. The F-3, for one, lacked maneuverability.

According to reports, the Tornado ADV was upgraded multiple times during its service life to improve its aerial capabilities. In some such programs, the aircraft was allegedly modified to conduct Suppression of Enemy Air Defense (SEAD) missions.

Additionally, the British Ministry of Defense (MoD) launched the Capability Sustainment Programme (CSP) to keep the Tornado F3 operational until its scheduled phase-out date of 2010.

Announced on March 5, 1996, this £125 million project included modifications to the radar to enhance multi-target engagement and the integration of the ASRAAM and AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles. It also involved many onboard computer systems being replaced and pilot and navigator displays being improved.

The Tornado ADV was retired from the Royal Air Force and the Royal Saudi Air Force (the only export operator of the Tornado) in the early 2010s and replaced by the cutting-edge Eurofighter Typhoons, also produced by a European consortium.

Although the aircraft did not become as popular as the IDS variant of the Tornado, which became the mainstay of the Italian, German, British, and Saudi Arabian Air Forces, it was still a very important variant.

Despite its flaws, the Tornado-ADV repeatedly defeated two of the world’s most advanced aircraft at the time—the F-14 Tomcat and the F/1-18 Hornet—in training flights. 

As interceptors designed primarily to effectively track down and destroy Soviet bombers over great distances, these jets were infamously less maneuverable than fighters of the same era. However, the combination of the jet’s straight-line performance, Foxhunter radars, and Skyflash missiles proved to be lethal after some significant technical obstacles, particularly when used by highly skilled pilots. 

A former pilot of Tornado ADV F3, Phil Keeble, revealed in an interview that the Royal Air Force consistently defeated the greatest fighters the US Navy had to offer by using some extremely well-tailored tactics.

Keeble specifically mentioned a spring 1990 deployment to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus for a gunnery exercise. The Tornado ADV and BAE Hawk crews particularly badly treated F-14 Tomcats and F/A-18 Hornets during several spontaneous dissimilar air combat training (DACT) operations.

Though the aircraft did not perform exceptionally during its service life, it served the RAF at a time when it needed an interceptor against the Soviet Air Force.

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