Tornado GR4
The Tornado GR4 is a variable geometry, two-seat, attack aircraft, capable of delivering a wide variety of ordnance,both day or night, and in all weathers.
Powered by 2 Rolls Royce RB199 engines, the Tornado excels at supersonic low-level flight and can fly automatically at low level using Terrain Following Radar when poor weather prevents visual flight.
The aircraft is also equipped with Forward Looking Infrared and is Night Vision Goggle compatible making it a capable platform for passive night operations.
Wingspan:
28 ft 2.5 in (8.59 m) swept
45 ft 7.25 in (13.90 m) unswept
Length:
54ft 9.5in (16.70 m)
Max Speed:
1,452mph (2,336km/h) Mach 2+
Power Plant:
2x Turbo Union RB199-103 Turbofans
Tornado GR4 History
British Tornados were built by British Aerospace as part of the tri-national company Panavia. The aircraft entered service as the Tornado GR1 in 1979. As early as 1984 the UK Ministry of Defence began studies of a Mid-Life Update (MLU) of the aircraft. The GR4 upgrade was not approved until 1994, which was revised to include lessons learned from the GR1's performance in the 1991 Gulf War. One major change was the move from low level penetration to medium level attacks, while maintaining the low level capability. The contracts were signed with British Aerospace (later BAE Systems) in 1994 for the upgrade of 142 GR1s to GR4 standard, work began in 1996 and finished in 2003.
Upgrades to the more than twenty-year old aircraft included, FLIR (Forward-Looking InfraRed), a wide-angle HUD (Heads-Up Display), improved cockpit displays, NVG (Night Vision Goggle) capabilities, new avionics and weapons systems, updated computer systems, and a Global Positioning System. The updated weapons system allowed integration of the latest offensive weapons, for example the Storm Shadow and Brimstone missiles and reconnaissance equipment such as the RAPTOR pod.
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Tornado GR4 Aircraft
Tornado GR4 Aircraft
Tornado GR4 Aircraft
