92 The Aircraft of British Aerospace and BAE SYSTEMS 1977 - 2017
the end of the year the F2 had reached
the important psychological goal of Mach
2 and two years later cleared Mach 2.16.
Throughout the following year an
intensive test programme took place at
Warton for all the three prototypes.
An improved version of the Tornado’s
power plant (the RB199-34R Mk 104) was
produced by Rolls-Royce offering a
significant increase in thrust and
incorporating a fourteen-inch longer
jet-pipe. In the winter of 1982/3 Tornado
prototype ZA267 had the new engine
and enlarged reheat system installed
which entailed a slight lengthening of the
rear fuselage. ZA267 flew with the new
engine in April 1983 and effectively
became the prototype for the F3. The first
eighteen ADVs were completed as F2s
with the lower-powered RB199 of which
the first six F2s were dual stick trainers. All
subsequent aircraft had the higher-
powered Mk 104 and were designated as
Tornado F3. The Tornado F3 entered
service with the RAF in 1986 and
deliveries were completed seven years
later. The only other customer for the F3
was the Royal Saudi Air Force which
ordered twenty-four.
The RAF’s F2s entered service without
its Foxhunter and concrete ballast in its
place but with the advent of the F3 a year
later in 1986 these problems had been
solved. Seven squadrons were formed,
later reduced to five by the ‘Peace
Dividend’ of 1990. With the introduction
into service of the Eurofighter Typhoon in
2010 the number of Tornado F3
squadrons fell to just one, No.111
Squadron at Leuchers, near Edinburgh,
and in March 2011 the Tornado F3 was
retired from active service.Tornado Export
The only export customer for Tornado was
the Kingdom of Saudi-Arabia which had
previously been a customer and satisfied
user of the BAC Warton-built Lightning. In
1984 Saudi pilots evaluated the Tornado at
Honington and in September 1985 the
Kingdom ordered 48 IDS and 24 ADV
Tornados. This contract also included the
delivery of BAe Hawks and Pilatus PC-9
trainers. To expedite deliveries to Saudi
Arabia, 18 RAF and two Luftwaffe IDS
Tornados were diverted to the RSAF. The
Saudi Air Force also received its 24 ADV
Tornados ahead of schedule when the
RAF agreed to give up delivery positions
to it. In 1993 there was a follow-on order
for 48 more Tornado IDSs by the RSAF,
bringing its total up to 120.
The RSAF Tornados were formed into
two IDS and one ADV squadron. The first
IDS squadron to operate the aircraft was
No 7 which came up to strength with 20
aircraft in October 1987. Next came the
delivery of 24 ADVs which were
equivalent to the initial batch of the RAF’s
F3s with deliveries beginning in February- Deliveries of both IDS and ADV
Tornados was completed by January
Saudi Arabia employed both its IDS
and ADV aircraft in the 1991 Gulf War
against Iraq following the occupation of
Kuwait. They also took part in Desert
Storm where they flew 451 sorties.
Beginning in 2006, 70 RSAF Tornado IDS
aircraft were returned to Warton as part of
the RSAF Tornado Sustainment
Programme (TSP) to upgrade its fleet. The
objective of the TSP was to modify Saudi
Tornados in a similar fashion to the work
carried out on RAF GR4s. The first part of
the work was carried out in the UK and
part two in Saudi Arabia. In 2006 the RSAF
decided to retire its ADV aircraft and these
were sold back to BAE as part of the
Typhoon contract, after which they were
stripped for spares. The RSAF’s IDS
Tornados remain in service; they were in
action against ISIS targets in Syria in 2014and in Yemen in 2015 and 2016.German Air Force and Navy
The German Air Force (Luftwaffe) and
Navy (Marine) received a total of 357 IDS
Tornados including four pre-production
machines. Of these all but thirty-five were
IDS variants. The others were Electronic
Combat and Reconnaissance (ECR)
variant. The ECR prototype was a
converted production model IDS and first
flew in August 1988 with production
deliveries beginning in 1990.
The first German Tornado Squadron
formed by the Navy as MFG1 became
fully operational at the beginning of 1984.
Eventually a second MFG was also
formed. As part of the Cold War fleet Italian Air Force
Tornado IDS 50-05
at the RIAT Fairford- (Author)