{"id":2243680,"date":"2026-06-18T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/?p=2243680"},"modified":"2026-06-19T10:24:59","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T08:24:59","slug":"panavia-tornado-multinational-fighter-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/panavia-tornado-multinational-fighter-history\/","title":{"rendered":"The Panavia Tornado: How Three Rivals Built One Fighter"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\n\n<p>On the night of 17 January 1991, RAF Tornado GR1s crossed the Iraqi border at sixty metres above the desert floor, wings swept back to 67 degrees, delivering JP233 runway-denial munitions onto airfields that Saddam Hussein believed were untouchable. Six Tornados were lost during Desert Storm \u2014 the highest toll of any coalition type \u2014 yet no commander questioned the airframe. The Tornado was doing exactly what it had been designed to do: fly lower, faster, and more precisely than anything else in NATO&#8217;s inventory.<\/p>\n\n<p>What makes that scene remarkable is not the bravery of the crews or the violence of the mission. It is the fact that this aircraft existed at all. The Panavia Tornado was built by three countries \u2014 Britain, West Germany, and Italy \u2014 that had spent centuries fighting one another. They agreed on a single airframe, a single engine, and a single avionics suite at a time when every national aerospace industry wanted its own programme. In an era when the Franco-German-Spanish FCAS programme has just collapsed under the weight of exactly those rivalries, the Tornado stands as living proof that multinational fighter programmes can work \u2014 if the partners are willing to compromise.<\/p>\n\n<p>Nine hundred and ninety-two Tornados were built. Three major variants entered service. The type flew combat missions in six different wars across four decades. This is the story of how Europe&#8217;s rivals built one of the Cold War&#8217;s most effective strike aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f5f5f5;padding:20px 24px;border-radius:8px;margin:20px 0 28px\">\n<p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:700;font-size:18px\">Quick Facts<\/p>\n<ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:20px;line-height:1.8\">\n<li><strong>First flight:<\/strong> 14 August 1974<\/li>\n<li><strong>Total built:<\/strong> 992 aircraft<\/li>\n<li><strong>Partner nations:<\/strong> United Kingdom, West Germany, Italy<\/li>\n<li><strong>Variants:<\/strong> IDS (interdictor\/strike), ADV (air defence), ECR (electronic combat\/reconnaissance)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Top speed:<\/strong> Mach 2.2 (2,400 km\/h)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Wing sweep range:<\/strong> 25\u00b0 to 67\u00b0<\/li>\n<li><strong>Combat record:<\/strong> Desert Storm, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, Syria<\/li>\n<li><strong>Engines:<\/strong> Two Turbo-Union RB199 afterburning turbofans<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Three Nations, One Impossible Brief<\/h2>\n\n<p>By the mid-1960s, Britain, West Germany, and Italy all needed the same thing: a low-level strike aircraft that could survive in the Central European theatre against massed Soviet air defences. Britain had just killed the TSR-2 and abandoned the F-111K purchase. Germany needed a replacement for the F-104 Starfighter, whose crash rate had become a national scandal. Italy was flying the ageing F-104S and could not afford to develop a successor alone.<\/p>\n\n<p>In 1968, the three governments formed Panavia Aircraft GmbH, a consortium with ownership split between British Aircraft Corporation (42.5%), Messerschmitt-B\u00f6lkow-Blohm (42.5%), and Aeritalia (15%). A parallel company, Turbo-Union, was created to develop the RB199 engine. Work was divided across national lines: fuselage sections in Germany, wings and tail in Britain, the centre fuselage in Italy. Each nation&#8217;s assembly line produced its own aircraft from shared components.<\/p>\n\n<p>The arrangement was radical. No previous combat aircraft had been designed, built, and operated by three sovereign nations simultaneously. The political friction was immense \u2014 every design decision required consensus across three air staffs with different doctrines, different threat assessments, and different industrial lobbies. Yet the programme held together, in large part because each partner had a genuine operational need that no national programme could fulfil at acceptable cost.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Bn3E0P6C8rg\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0;border-radius:8px\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><a href=\"The Tornado was a triumph of political will over industrial ego. Three nations agreed not just on a design, but on shared production lines, shared costs, and shared doctrine. That is extraordinarily rare.\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"flex-shrink:0\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"The Tornado was a triumph of political will over industrial ego. Three nations agreed not just on a design, but on shared production lines, shared costs, and shared doctrine. That is extraordinarily rare.\" alt=\"Air Marshal Sir Ian Macfadyen\" style=\"width:96px;height:96px;border-radius:50%;object-fit:cover;object-position:center;display:block;border:2px solid #ddd\"><\/a><div><em>&ldquo;undefined&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Air Marshal Sir Ian Macfadyen<\/strong> &mdash; Former RAF Tornado pilot and Commander British Forces Cyprus<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Swing-Wing Solution<\/h2>\n\n<p>The Tornado&#8217;s most distinctive feature is its variable-geometry wing, which sweeps from 25 degrees for take-off and landing to 67 degrees for high-speed, low-level penetration. This was not a fashionable choice \u2014 it was a functional one. The Central European war scenario demanded an aircraft that could operate from short, possibly bomb-damaged runways, fly at very low level to avoid Soviet radar, and then accelerate to supersonic speeds for the final attack run. Fixed-wing designs could not satisfy all three requirements simultaneously.<\/p>\n\n<p>The swing-wing mechanism added weight and mechanical complexity, but it gave the Tornado something no fixed-wing competitor could match: genuine multi-role flexibility without compromising low-level performance. At full sweep, the Tornado could maintain stable flight at 200 feet above the ground in any weather, guided by its terrain-following radar \u2014 a capability that proved decisive in Gulf War operations.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px\"><img data-opt-id=598278518  fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/panavia-tornado-ids-at-ila-2024-berlin-air-show.jpg\" alt=\"Panavia Tornado IDS interdictor strike variant on display at ILA Berlin 2024\" style=\"max-width:100%;height:auto;border-radius:6px\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">A German Panavia Tornado IDS at the ILA Berlin Air Show in 2024 \u2014 the aircraft that proved three rival nations could build one fighter.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p>Three distinct variants emerged from the basic airframe. The IDS (Interdictor\/Strike) was the original low-level bomber, carrying conventional and nuclear weapons. The ADV (Air Defence Variant), developed exclusively for the RAF, stretched the fuselage to carry four Sky Flash missiles and served as Britain&#8217;s primary interceptor through the 1990s. The ECR (Electronic Combat\/Reconnaissance), operated by Germany and Italy, specialised in suppression of enemy air defences using AGM-88 HARM missiles.<\/p>\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">From Desert Storm to Syria: Four Decades of Combat<\/h2>\n\n<p>The Tornado&#8217;s combat d\u00e9but during Operation Desert Storm in January 1991 was costly but instructive. RAF and Italian Tornados flew ultra-low-level attacks against Iraqi airfields, and six British aircraft were lost in the first week. The losses forced a doctrinal shift: subsequent missions were flown at medium altitude using precision-guided munitions, a change that shaped Tornado operations for the next quarter-century.<\/p>\n\n<p>Over Kosovo in 1999, Tornados delivered ALARM anti-radiation missiles against Serbian air defences. In Afghanistan from 2001, the type flew reconnaissance and close air support missions using the RAPTOR pod. During the 2011 Libya campaign, RAF Tornado GR4s flew 3,000-mile round trips from Marham in Norfolk to deliver Storm Shadow cruise missiles. In Iraq and Syria from 2014, Tornados provided the backbone of the RAF&#8217;s strike capability against Islamic State targets using Brimstone and Paveway IV munitions.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"max-width:550px;margin:0 auto 28px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?id=https:\/\/x.com\/Team_Luftwaffe\/status\/1823643825555877966&#038;theme=light\" style=\"width:100%;height:400px;border:none;border-radius:12px;overflow:hidden\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><a href=\"No aircraft in history has been shaped by as many committee meetings as the Tornado. And yet it worked. The swing-wing was the right answer to the right question at the right time.\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"flex-shrink:0\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"No aircraft in history has been shaped by as many committee meetings as the Tornado. And yet it worked. The swing-wing was the right answer to the right question at the right time.\" alt=\"Bill Gunston\" style=\"width:96px;height:96px;border-radius:50%;object-fit:cover;object-position:center;display:block;border:2px solid #ddd\"><\/a><div><em>&ldquo;undefined&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Bill Gunston<\/strong> &mdash; Aviation historian and author of more than 400 books on aerospace<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The FCAS Lesson: Why the Tornado Worked and Others Failed<\/h2>\n\n<p>In 2025, the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) \u2014 a Franco-German-Spanish programme intended to produce Europe&#8217;s next-generation fighter \u2014 effectively collapsed. France and Germany could not agree on workshare, intellectual property, or export rights. Spain was caught in the middle. The programme that was supposed to replace the Rafale and the Eurofighter died of the same disease that the Tornado had survived: industrial nationalism.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px\"><img data-opt-id=2083164851  fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/panavia-tornado-ecr-german-air-force-jabog-32.jpg\" alt=\"Panavia Tornado ECR electronic combat reconnaissance variant of the German Air Force\" style=\"max-width:100%;height:auto;border-radius:6px\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The Tornado ECR variant \u2014 Germany&#8217;s dedicated SEAD platform, a role that emerged directly from multinational cooperation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p>The Tornado succeeded where FCAS failed for three reasons. First, all three partner nations had an urgent and genuine operational requirement \u2014 not a vague aspiration for a future capability, but an immediate gap in their order of battle. Second, the workshare formula was agreed early and defended politically. No partner could claim the programme for its own industry. Third, the design was driven by a specific operational scenario \u2014 low-level strike in Central Europe \u2014 rather than by an attempt to build a do-everything platform for an undefined future threat.<\/p>\n\n<p>As Europe debates the path forward for GCAP, Tempest, and whatever emerges from the FCAS wreckage, the Tornado&#8217;s legacy is not just the aircraft itself \u2014 it is the proof that multinational cooperation in combat aviation is possible. It requires political will, industrial discipline, and an honest answer to a simple question: what do we actually need this aircraft to do?<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"max-width:550px;margin:0 auto 28px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?id=https:\/\/x.com\/rookisaacman\/status\/1807868442206454105&#038;theme=light\" style=\"width:100%;height:400px;border:none;border-radius:12px;overflow:hidden\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Retirement and Legacy<\/h2>\n\n<p>The RAF retired its last Tornado GR4s in March 2019 after 40 years of service, replacing them with the Eurofighter Typhoon and F-35B Lightning. Germany continues to fly the Tornado ECR and IDS variants, though these are scheduled for replacement by the F-35A from 2027. Italy retired its Tornados in 2023. Saudi Arabia remains the last major operator.<\/p>\n\n<p>The Tornado was never the fastest, the stealthiest, or the most agile fighter of its era. It was something more valuable: the right aircraft for the right mission, delivered on time and within budget by three nations that chose pragmatism over pride. In a European defence landscape littered with failed programmes and broken promises, that remains its most remarkable achievement.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KwzgSxSB4ac\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0;border-radius:8px\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n<p><em>Sources: Panavia Aircraft GmbH official records, RAF Historical Branch, Bundeswehr archives, Bill Gunston &#8220;Tornado&#8221; (Ian Allan Publishing), Greg Baughen &#8220;The RAF in the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0\">\n<p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/fcas-dead-germany-eyes-gcap-entry\/\">FCAS Dead, Germany Eyes GCAP Entry<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/terrain-following-radar-f111-tornado-b1b-low-level-strike\/\">Terrain-Following Radar: The Technology That Let Fighters Hide Behind Hills at 500 Knots<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/bac-tsr2-britains-cold-war-masterpiece\/\">The BAC TSR-2: Britain\u2019s Cold War Masterpiece, Killed by Politics<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On the night of 17 January 1991, RAF Tornado GR1s crossed the Iraqi border at sixty metres above the desert floor, wings swept back to 67 degrees, delivering JP233 runway-denial munitions onto airfields that Saddam Hussein believed were untouchable. Six Tornados were lost during Desert Storm \u2014 the highest toll of any coalition type \u2014 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":2243454,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[666,664,670],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2243680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-and-legends","category-military-aviation","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Panavia Tornado: How Three Rivals Built One Fighter | MiGFlug.com Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On the night of 17 January 1991, RAF Tornado GR1s crossed the Iraqi border at sixty metres above the desert floor, wings swept back to 67 degrees,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/panavia-tornado-multinational-fighter-history\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Panavia Tornado: How Three Rivals Built One Fighter | MiGFlug.com Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On the night of 17 January 1991, RAF Tornado GR1s crossed the Iraqi border at sixty metres above the desert floor, wings swept back to 67 degrees,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/panavia-tornado-multinational-fighter-history\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MiGFlug.com Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-18T09:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-19T08:24:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/panavia-tornado-gr4-raf-in-flight.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"564\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/panavia-tornado-multinational-fighter-history\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/panavia-tornado-multinational-fighter-history\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5c2a0903e94d20f73e438b41e79c51be\"},\"headline\":\"The Panavia Tornado: How Three Rivals Built One Fighter\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-18T09:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-19T08:24:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/panavia-tornado-multinational-fighter-history\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1343,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/panavia-tornado-multinational-fighter-history\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/06\\/panavia-tornado-gr4-raf-in-flight.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"History &amp; 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Pictured here on 12 October 2012 is a Tornado GR4 aircraft as it undertakes a training sortie over the North West of England. The Tornado from IX(B) Squardon is preparing for deployed operations over Afghanistan in the near future. The Tornado GR4 is a variable geometry, two-seat, day or night, all-weather attack aircraft capable of delivering a wide variety of weapons. Powered by two Rolls-Royce RB 199 Mk 103 turbofan engines, the GR4 is capable of low-level supersonic flight and can sustain a high subsonic cruise speed. The GR4 typically carries up to a maximum of 5 Paveway IV smart weapons or 2 Stormshadow cruise missiles but can be configured with various weapons, targeting pods and reconnaissance pods simultaneously including the Dual Mode Seeker (DMS) Brimstone, ALARM Mk2 missile, Litening III and the Reconnaissance Airborne Pod TORnado (RAPTOR). The Tornado GR4 is a world leader in the specialised field of all-weather, day and night tactical reconnaissance. The RAPTOR pod is one of the most advanced reconnaissance sensors in the world and greatly increases the effectiveness of the aircraft in the reconnaissance role. Its introduction into service gave the GR4 the ability to transmit real-time, Long Range Oblique Photography (LOROP) to commanders or to view this in cockpit during a mission. The stand-off range of the sensors also allows the aircraft to remain outside heavily defended areas, thus minimising the aircraft\u2019s exposure to enemy air-defence systems. Additional capability in the Non-Traditional Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (NTISR) role is provided by the Litening III RD and the use of the ROVER data link for providing tactical operators with real time Full Motion Video (FMV) in the battle space. 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Pictured here on 12 October 2012 is a Tornado GR4 aircraft as it undertakes a training sortie over the North West of England. The Tornado from IX(B) Squardon is preparing for deployed operations over Afghanistan in the near future. The Tornado GR4 is a variable geometry, two-seat, day or night, all-weather attack aircraft capable of delivering a wide variety of weapons. Powered by two Rolls-Royce RB 199 Mk 103 turbofan engines, the GR4 is capable of low-level supersonic flight and can sustain a high subsonic cruise speed. The GR4 typically carries up to a maximum of 5 Paveway IV smart weapons or 2 Stormshadow cruise missiles but can be configured with various weapons, targeting pods and reconnaissance pods simultaneously including the Dual Mode Seeker (DMS) Brimstone, ALARM Mk2 missile, Litening III and the Reconnaissance Airborne Pod TORnado (RAPTOR). The Tornado GR4 is a world leader in the specialised field of all-weather, day and night tactical reconnaissance. The RAPTOR pod is one of the most advanced reconnaissance sensors in the world and greatly increases the effectiveness of the aircraft in the reconnaissance role. Its introduction into service gave the GR4 the ability to transmit real-time, Long Range Oblique Photography (LOROP) to commanders or to view this in cockpit during a mission. The stand-off range of the sensors also allows the aircraft to remain outside heavily defended areas, thus minimising the aircraft\u2019s exposure to enemy air-defence systems. Additional capability in the Non-Traditional Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (NTISR) role is provided by the Litening III RD and the use of the ROVER data link for providing tactical operators with real time Full Motion Video (FMV) in the battle space. The Tornado GR4 is now equipped with the Storm Shadow missile and 2 variants of the Brimstone missile, including the most advanced DMS variant."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/panavia-tornado-multinational-fighter-history\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Startseite","item":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Panavia Tornado: How Three Rivals Built One Fighter"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#website","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/","name":"MiGFlug.com Blog","description":"for those interested in flying military jets and aviation related  topics","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#\/schema\/person\/5c2a0903e94d20f73e438b41e79c51be","name":"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/24d828074a1cc6684638b2dcfc98a9dd85a2e06b37adfd74d20fae209f234190?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/24d828074a1cc6684638b2dcfc98a9dd85a2e06b37adfd74d20fae209f234190?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/24d828074a1cc6684638b2dcfc98a9dd85a2e06b37adfd74d20fae209f234190?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy"},"description":"Fortun\u00e9 covers European aviation with the flair you would expect from a Parisian defence correspondent. 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