The Panavia Tornado range of fighters was developed and built jointly by a tri-nation consortium consisting of British Aerospace, MBB of Germany, and Alenia Aeronautica of Italy. The first deliveries of Tornado F3's were made to the RAF in 1986, the Tornado F3 soon replaced the ageing Lightning F.6 and Phantom FGR2 fighters in their air defence role. Seventy five Tornado F3's are currently in operational service with the RAF.
Panavia Tornado F3 Specifications: Crew: Pilot and Weapons Systems Operator Length: 61ft 3in (18.68m) Wingspan: 45ft 7in (13.90m) at 17° sweep; 28ft 2in (8.60m) at 68° sweep Maximum Weight: 61,700lb (27,987kg) Engines: Two Turbo-Union RB199s Top Speed: 1,452mph (2,337km/h) at 40,000ft (12,492m) Service Ceiling: 70,000ft (21,335ft)
Armament: Twin 27mm IWKA-Mauser cannon Four Sky Flash or AIM-120 AMRAAM medium range air-to-air missiles Four AIM-9L Sidewinder or ASRAAM short-range air-to-air missiles
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