BAE Systems

The Aircraft of British Aerospace and BAE SYSTEMS 1977 - 2017 89

Tornado GR1s flew into RAF Cottesmore,
the first arrivals at the new Trinational
Tornado Training Establishment (TTTE).
Just as the aircraft, engines and avionics
were tripartite so too was the training.
Until 1999 British, German and Italian
crews were based there to complete a
common operational conversion course.

The RAF’s IDS Tornados
As the RAF’s Vulcans were having their
moment of glory over the Falklands
Islands in 1982, their replacement aircraft,
the Tornado, was entering service with
the RAF. In total eleven squadrons were
formed over time, the first three were
UK-based but the remainder were based
in Germany, part of the front-line defence
against the Warsaw Pact nations. These
squadrons and could carry both
conventional and nuclear weapons and
their low-level attack capability was
particularly important in this NATO role.
Yet it was not until after the end of the
Cold War that the Tornado GR1s were
tested in action and in a very different
theatre. As part of the RAF contingent in
the 1991 Gulf War almost sixty Tornados
were employed suffering significant
attrition when six aircraft were lost.
The RAF Tornado GR1 proved itself not
only in the Gulf War but also Kosovo, Iraq
and Afghanistan as an exceedingly
capable ground-attack aircraft. Between
1997 and 2003, 142 Tornado GR1 were

upgraded to GR4 standard by BAE

Systems at Warton. Since entering service

in 1981 the GR1 had developed into a

number of sub-fleets with varying

equipment standards. One of the main

objectives of the conversion was to have

a common standard of equipment

throughout all the aircraft, except the

Tornado GR1As which kept their

sideways-looking and linescan infra-red

systems and became GR4As. The GR4 can

be distinguished from the GR1 by the

additional fairing under the nose to house

the Forward Looking Infra-Red (FLIR) and

the removal of one of its two 27mm

Mauser cannon. During the conversion,

major new systems were installed and the

GR4 and GR4A became more potent with

additional and more powerful weapons.

The first Tornado GR4 returned to

front-line service in May 1998 becoming

fully operational until 2001. The final

example was delivered from Warton in

2003. The GR4 remains a formidable
      ground-attack aircraft with its
      sophisticated weapons suite consisting
      of: Brimstone, Storm Shadow, Paveway
      2-4, Mauser 27mm cannon and ASRAAM. †

The MulTi-Role ToRnado

‡ Tornado F3s

ZG735, ZE758 and

ZE291 of 229 OCU,

29 Squadron and 5

Squadron over RAF

Coningsby.

(Key Publishing)

† A Tornado F3 with

Skyflash and

Sidewinder missiles.

(BAE SYSTEMS North

West Heritage)