BAE Systems

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

T

he first multi-national Tornado

took to the air on 14 August

1974, so when BAe came into

being in 1977 the test pro-

gramme was well underway, as ten

prototypes had already flown. Prior to

receiving its name, the Tornado had

been known as the MRCA (Multi-Role

Combat Aircraft) and it was a joint

British, German and Italian project for

which a managing company called

The Multi-Role Tornado

Panavia was formed. The British partner

company was the British Aircraft

Corporation.

The Tornado’s gestation was very

lengthy. Following the cancellation of the

BAC TSR2 in April 1965 it appeared that

the RAF was to have a mixed fleet of

American-built F-111Ks and the smaller

Anglo-French variable-geometry (AFVG)

aircraft, built by BAC in collaboration with

Dassault. The AFVG with a top speed of

Mach 2+ was to replace the RAF’s

Lightning and the French Air Force’s

Mirage 3 in the air defence role and the

Canberras, Buccaneers and Phantoms

operated by the British in the strike role.

Variable-geometry allowed the wings of

the aircraft to sweep forward to provide

high-lift, good manouevrability and low

speeds for take-off and landing. Swept

back, the wings gave low drag, low gust

response conferring good transonic and

supersonic performance.

The UK Government’s F-111K / AFVG

scheme was short-lived. In mid-1967 the

French withdrew from the AFVG and at

the end of 1967 the Labour Government

cancelled the F-111K owing to escalating

costs, but funded BAC to continue work

on a UKVG project until June 1969. This

provided continuity of design, wind

tunnel and materials testing for BAC. The

ongoing work strengthened the basis for

the huge UK input into MRCA (Multi-Role

Combat Aircraft) which became the

Tornado and which in turn led to

Eurofighter Typhoon.

Joint Working Group

In July 1968 Britain was invited to join a

Joint Working Group of European

countries and Canada formed to find a

Lockheed F-104 replacement. Britain’s

presence was significant as it had the

greatest expertise in advanced combat

aircraft design. Several countries

abandoned the project, leaving Britain,

Germany and Italy. Britain offered a VG

The first prototype Tornado D-9591 bearing Panavia livery

taking off on its maiden flight from Manching piloted by

BAC’s Chief Test Pilot, Paul Millett on 14 August 1974. The

MBB Chief Test Pilot Neils Meister occupied the rear seat,

but piloted the second flight. (BAE SYSTEMS)

ˆ XX946, the first

British-assembled

Tornado and second

aircraft to fly, flying

with its wings swept

forward.

(BAE Systems)