The backbone of the RAF for nearly 40 years | Panavia Tornado

The Panavia Tornado formed the backbone of the RAF for nearly 40 years of continuous front-line service. Originally designed during the Cold War to carry nuclear weapons, the Tornado served in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya fielding laser-guided strategic weapons. Wherever the RAF was used, Tornados were on the front line.

In this episode of Duxford in Depth, events and experiences coordinator Liam Shaw takes us through the distinguished history of the Tornado from our GR1 'Foxy Killer' which flew more missions than any other RAF Tornado during Operation Granby in 1991, to our GR4 which served in Operation Ellamy in 2011 enforcing the no-fly zone over Libya. We take a look at the technology that made the Tornado one of the most advanced ground attack aircraft of its time and hear first-hand from the people that designed and flew it.

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-- Video contents --
0:00 Intro
0:54 Design
2:45 Service overview
4:26 Tornado GR1 'Foxy Killer'
5:53 RB-199 engines
6:59 Variable-geometry wings
8:08 Tornado GR4 weapon fit
9:31 Crew
10:54 Retirement

Credits:
Tornado flying at IWM Duxford courtesy of PlanesTV

Tornado and Apache images Licensed under OGL v1.0
https://nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/o...

04a_Ellamy_Tornado by Sgt Pete Mobbs/MOD © Crown Copyright.
Ellamy-906-110602-0198-Out-Unc-0009 by SAC Sally Raimondo/MOD © Crown Copyright.
MNT-11-048-OUT-005 by Ed Marshall/MOD © Crown Copyright.
MNT-11-050-OUT-UNC-3234 by SAC Neil Chapman/MOD © Crown Copyright.
EAW906_11_0009_Out_Unc_0005 by Cpl Babbs Robinson/MOD © Crown Copyright.
MNT-11-050-OUT-UNC-2434 by SAC Neil Chapman/MOD © Crown Copyright.
20141103_ISIS_3 by Hall/MOD © Crown Copyright.
20121017-MWP-221-U-(PR)--Underslung loads-ALPC- 219 by Peter Davies/MOD © Crown Copyright.
45149174 by Graeme Main/MOD © Crown Copyright.
MAR-UNCLASS-20121012-1207-0181 by Corporal Mike Jones/MOD © Crown Copyright.
MAR-UNCLASS-20121012-1207-0129 by Corporal Mike Jones/MOD © Crown Copyright.

#history #aircraft #tornado