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Panavia Tornado

3,960 ChihiroKagamij7j  2 months ago

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.[a] 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 was developed and built by Panavia Aircraft GmbH, a tri-national consortium consisting of British Aerospace (previously British Aircraft Corporation), MBB[b] 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 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 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[1] aircraft were built.

Spotlights

  • This craft is curated
  • M109simp 2 months ago

General Characteristics

  • Created On Android
  • Wingspan 44.0ft (13.4m)
  • Length 53.2ft (16.2m)
  • Height 18.0ft (5.5m)
  • Empty Weight 16,362lbs (7,421kg)
  • Loaded Weight 25,589lbs (11,607kg)

Performance

  • Power/Weight Ratio 4.478
  • Wing Loading 66.3lbs/ft2 (323.8kg/m2)
  • Wing Area 385.8ft2 (35.8m2)
  • Drag Points 6453

Parts

  • Number of Parts 201
  • Control Surfaces 5
  • Performance Cost 1,273