Panavia

Panavia Aircraft GmbH is a German company established by the three partner nations of the Tornado Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA) project, West Germany, Italy and the UK.
Panavia was established in 1969 by the British Aircraft Corporation (which became British Aerospace in 1977), Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (which had been formed the year before) and Fiat Aviazione (which became Aeritalia that year and became Alenia in 1990)). It was planned to produce more than 1,000 aircraft. An aircraft was needed to counter the perceived threat from Russian aircraft such as the MiG-25 Foxbat and the Su-15 Flagon aircraft, which had been in service since around 1967. A multi-purpose aircraft was needed to allow a long production run and to lower costs per aircraft (unit price). In 1970, the unit cost was expected to be only $2.9m.

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Panavia Tornado

The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing multirole combat aircraft, jointly developed and manufactured by Italy, the United Kingdom, and West Germany. There are three primary Tornado variants: the Tornado IDS (interdictor/strike) fighter-bomber, the Tornado ECR (electronic combat/reconnaissance) for suppression of enemy air defences and the Tornado ADV (air defence variant) interceptor aircraft.
The aircraft was originally known as the MRA-75, the MRCA and the ACA. Design work began in May 1969. By 1970 it was known as the Panavia 100, with the two-seat version being the Panavia 200. The RAF was to have the two-seat version. The avionics on the aircraft were developed by another ad hoc European company, Avionica, formed by Elliott (UK), Elektronik System (West Germany) and SIA (Italy).
The Tornado first flew in 1974. The RAF flew the ADV variant with a larger GEC-Marconi AI.24 Foxhunter radar, implemented in the mid-1970s. The ECR variant was developed for the Luftwaffe, and was proposed to be sold to the US in 1985. Its all-weather capabilities at the time were unmatched in the world.
The Tornado was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF), Italian Air Force, and Royal Saudi Air Force during the Gulf War of 1991, in which it conducted many low-altitude penetrating strike missions. Tornados of various services were also used in conflicts in the former Yugoslavia during the Bosnian War and the Kosovo War, the Iraq War, Libya during the Libyan civil war, as well as smaller roles in Afghanistan, Yemen, and Syria. Including all variants, 992 aircraft were built.
The Tornado aircraft is expected to remain in service until at least 2025. That would be more than fifty years after it first flew.

Panavia Tornado IDS, registration 44+29, built ????, serial number 327/GS090
Vliegbasis Volkel (UDE/EHVK), Uden, Netherlands, 14 June 2019

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