The Panavia Tornado is a variable geometry aircraft designed to fill the roles of a fighter bomber or interceptor depending on it's configuration. It was developed and built by Panavia, a tri-national consortium consisting of British Aerospace, MBB of West Germany, and Alenia Aeronautica of Italy, the Panavia Tornado first flew in August 1974 and entered operational service in 1979. When production ceased in 1999 a total of 992 Tornados had been produced. It is of note that the Panavia Tornado saw action with the RAF, the Italian Air Force, and the Royal Saudi Air Force in the Gulf War. The Tornado GR4 strike aircraft is a modification of the RAF's Tornado GR1 strike aircraft, improvements were based on lessons learned in the Gulf war where lack of suitable laser designators resulted in the emergency use of Blackburn Buccaneer aircraft equipped with the Pave Spike laser designator to allow the GR1's to deliver laser guided munitions. A total of 142 GR1's were converted to the GR4 standard between 1996 and 2003 and are fitted with a TIALD laser designator. Tornado GR4 Specifications: - Crew: 2
- Length: 16.72 m (54 ft 10 in)
- Wingspan: 13.91 m at 25° wing sweep, 8.60 m at 67° wing sweep (45.6 ft / 28.2 ft)
- Height: 5.95 m (19.5 ft)
- Wing area: 26.6 m² (286 ft²)
- Empty weight: 13,890 kg (31,620 lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 28,000 kg (61,700 lb)
- Engines: Twin 76.8 kN (17,270 lbf) Turbo-Union RB199-34R Mk 103 afterburning turbofans
- Maximum speed: Mach 2.34 (2,417.6 km/h, 1,511 mph)
- Combat range: 1,390 km (870 mi)
- Service ceiling: 15,240 m (50,000 ft)
- Rate of climb: 76.7 m/s (15,100 ft/min)
- Thrust/weight: 0.55
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