Airforces Tornado tribute

60 // TORNADO TRIBUTE

he RAF deployed 32 Tornado GR4/4As

to the Persian Gulf ready for the start

of hostilities in March 2003. Nos

II(AC), IX(B) and 31 squadrons deployed

from RAF Marham, along with crews from

No 13 Squadron. Two squadrons from RAF

Lossiemouth, Nos 12(B) and 617 squadrons,

also went to the Gulf, with the force making

up two pooled Tornado wings at Ali al

Salem in Kuwait and at Al Udeid in Qatar.

Grp Capt Simon Dobb, Tornado detachment

commander in Kuwait, described March 21

• the first night of the so-called ‘shock and
  awe’ coalition attacks – as the “greatest night
  in the history of the Tornado squadrons”.
  He added then that his detachment’s attacks
  would be “carefully targeted against the
  regime” and would aim to minimise civilian
  casualties and damage to infrastructure.
  Among the Kuwait element, mainly
  comprising personnel and aircraft from
  the Marham Wing, was Pete Beilby, at the
  time a flying officer with No 31 Squadron
  ‘Goldstars’. He was already in theatre under
  Operation Resinate, enforcing the no-fly
  zone with mainly daylight sorties before
  the mission switched overnight to Telic


• the UK contribution to Operation Iraqi
  Freedom. Indeed, he’d dropped weapons
  during his first mission over Iraq that
  January, attacking an air defence target in
  Nasiriyah after only ten minutes in the air.

GR4 advances

Once on Telic, Beilby mainly flew at night,

making use of some of the improvements

manifested in the GR4 variant that had

entered frontline service in May 1998.

The upgraded jet had first seen action on

Operation Resinate South in June 2001,

in the hands of No 12(B) Squadron.

commander of the ‘Combat Air Wing’ at Ali al

Salem. “We used Paveway II and Enhanced

Paveway II – the GPS version,” said Beilby.

“The TIALD system had been upgraded so we

were now laser designating as well as using

GPS, depending on [the] role. For close air

support we tended to use laser designation,

for example, against tanks on the ground.”

Although his squadron was an ALARM

specialist, Beilby didn’t employ the missile

himself over Iraq: “[No 31 Squadron] did

fire ALARM, particularly in the early days

of Telic, and at least some guys employed

a full-ALARM fit of nine missiles.”

At the outset of Telic, the crews operating

up around Baghdad faced the ‘super MEZ’

• missile engagement zone. “It varied
  depending on where you went,” Beilby
  recalled. “They did have an integrated air
  defence system [IADS] that was pretty up to

T

“From a pilot’s perspective, the GR4 mid-life

update gave the Tornado a digital moving map

that allowed a lot more tactical information

to be displayed,” Beilby explained. “It also

had GPS navigation rather than the internal

navigation, with increased accuracy. It had

an improved head-up display and forward-

looking infrared, which was projected

up on the HUD [head-up display]. The

whole cockpit was NVG [night-vision

goggles] compatible, with NVG lighting

externally and internally. We used NVGs

all the time at night, including tanking.”

The GR4 also introduced a host of new

weapons, which were soon put to use in Telic,

including the Storm Shadow standoff cruise

missile, which was debuted on Telic by No

617 Squadron. Paveways were the weapons

of choice for Beilby and his navigator, Wg Cdr

Paddy Teakle, the boss of No 31 Squadron and

Iraq

In March 2003 the Tornado

GR4 Force was in action

again over Iraq as part of the

US-led coalition that invaded

the country and quickly

overthrew Saddam Hussein’s

regime. Thomas Newdick

reflects on Te lic GR4 missions

with Pete Beilby, then a

24-year-old flying of ficer.

Back to

Fg Off Pete Beilby (left) and Wg Cdr Paddy

Teakle return from a mission at Ali al Salem.

Wg Cdr Teakle was the only RAF aircrew

member at the Kuwaiti base to have fl own in

the 1991 Gulf War. via No 31 Squadron

Tornado

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