Panavia Tornado GR.1: The Mighty Tonka

[AVROVULCANXH558 349]

Introduction:  The Tornado was the culmination of decades of work on Variable Geometry (VG) technology, and development in the area of the low-level strike aircraft that came together to create one of the most formidable strike aircraft ever fielded, as well as a beautiful piece of engineering.

 

History:  The swing-wing story begins in the closing years of the Second World War. At this point, with advancements in jet engine performance, aircraft speeds were increasing. Aircraft designers and aerodynamicists worked tirelessly to come up with solutions to gain the best performance out of their aircraft. Buffeting occurred at high speeds on straight wing aircraft, and even had the potential to break up at higher speeds, hence, this was not seen as the way forward. Numerous concepts came about during this period, these being the swept-back, forward-swept and delta wings. However, these didn’t give good takeoff and landing performance, as they required high speeds, and thus long runways. During this time, numerous designers came up with the idea to change the wings’ angle of sweepback. This would give both the benefits of straight wings, that is shorter takeoff and landing distances, and the benefits of swept-back wings, these being better performance and maneuverability at higher speeds. Though the design of the Variable Geometry wing (referred to as VG-wing from here for the sake of simplicity), cannot be attributed to a single person, the name of one man will stick out in particular in this story. The name of this man, is Barnes Wallis.

 

Barnes Wallis is one of the big names in British aviation history. By 1946, he already had a large portfolio of successes under his belt, including: the geodetic airframe of the Wellesley and Wellington bombers, the Highball bombs (better known as the “Bounching Bombs), the Tallboy and Grand Slam “Earthquake Bombs”, and work on large aircraft at Vickers such as the Windsor heavy bomber. In the latter part of the Second World War, and continuing on into the 1950’s, he worked on a multitude of projects, most notably ones regarding VG wing development. These projects became the Swallow, as well as a number of related types, similar in design. The design was a testament to his talent, and pushed the limits of technology of the time to its limits. It was an unusual aircraft, with a flat “arrowhead” design, with now vertical stabilisers, no fuselage, VG wings and four large jet engines that swivelled to keep them looking forward when the wing was swept back. The design was tested in a NACA wind tunnel in the 50’s, and though it possessed good high speed performance, it was found to be unstable. The NACA engineers made some changes, and created their own design, one which would eventually lead to the F-111. Work on VG continued into the 50’s and 60’s in many of the design offices of the UK. Designs such as the VG Lightning from English Electric, the Vickers Type 581 and 583 series, Folland Fo.147 and Hawker Siddeley HS.1023 are but a few examples, but none got past the drawing board.

 

In the wake of the cancellations of both the TSR.2 and F-111K, and in the face of ever improving Soviet air defences, the need for a modern strike aircraft was becoming evermore urgent. The UK was left with a clean sheet. Technology had improved since the days of both the TSR.2 and F-111K, meaning that the aircraft could be smaller, but even more potent than previously. Thus, the designers could play a bit more with the design. Thus, the UK and France began working on a joint program called AFVG. Though the aircraft promised potential, the French were never truly interested in the project, and quickly left the project do develop their own swing wing aircraft; the ill-fated Mirage G series. However, the UK persevered. In 1968, a requirement was drawn up called the Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA) by Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Canada. The idea was to create a platform that could replace various types in each respective country, namely the F-104. The UK at this time was working on a project known as UKVG. After some political shuffling, the United Kingdom joined the program joined as Canada and Belgium left. On 26th March, 1969, Panavia Aircraft was founded between the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, though the Dutch would drop out of the program the following year. The following year, Turbo Union was founded to create an engine for the new program. Despite a disagreement over the size of the aircraft, a compromise was reached, and the design moved quickly, owing to years of effort from both the British and the German and Italian sides respectively. A prototype was constructed, and first flew in 1974. Five years of thorough tests and multiple prototypes later, the Tornado entered service with the RAF.

 

Spoiler

Barnes Wallis and his Swallow

 

Mockup of the AFVG:

 

Line drawing of the MRCA; the dawn of the Tornado is here.

 

Design:  The Tornado is, as noted already, a swing-wing aircraft, thus providing it with optimum performance in all speed regimes. Along with the swing-wing, the Tornado came with thrust-reversers, that allow for a shorter take-off and landing roll as compared to other aircraft of similar size and weight. This was in an effort to give it a degree of rough field capability, allowing it to operate from roads or damaged airbases, at least, in theory. There were two crew members: a pilot in the front, and a weapons system officer in the back. The aircraft was powered by two Turbo Union RB.199 reheated, three-spool turbofans; the first of its kind. The engines were extremely powerful for their size and weight, being half the weight of comparable designs, thus improving maintenance. Maintenance was made easier by around 400 access panels.

 

Service:  Upon entering service, the Tornado was the most advanced strike aircraft in the RAF and NATO, capable of delivering both conventional and nuclear weapons with pinpoint accuracy, at low level, in all weather conditions. It came as a replacement for the Vulcans, and complemented the Buccaneer. If the Cold War ever “went hot”, Tornados would have been scrambled from their bases in Germany, and charge towards the Inner German Border, and thus the heart of the Warsaw Pact. They would have attacked airbases, SAM and radar sites, command centres and supply and communication lines. Fortunately, this never happened, but the Tornado still got to prove it’s mettle.

 

 

Iraq’s illegal invasion of Kuwait led to a storm; a Desert Storm. The Coalition forces were made up of the most advanced equipment of the time, including the Tornado. The flat deserts of Iraq were completely alien to the pilots, who were used to the forested hills of Germany. However, they were some of the most experienced pilots in the RAF, and quickly rose up to the challenge. The Tornados were doing what they were designed for: leading the spearhead, against the most difficult targets. On the first day of Desert Storm, Tornadoes flew at low-level across the desert and bombed airbases using either JP.233 mine dispensers, or General Purpose 1000lb bombs. As the conflict wore on, they were used for bombing raids against command and communication centres, as well as keeping airbases out of repair, the former of which was often dispatched via guided bombs. Six GR.1s were lost during the conflict, most famously that of John Nichol and John Peters, who wrote about their experience in captivity in their book “Tornado Down”. The Tornado became a star of this conflict, and entered the public’s imagination.

 

The Tonka gets even better:  Though the GR.1 was a brilliant aircraft, it had some shortcomings, and by the mid-90’s, it required some updates. This arrived in 1997 as the GR.4, making an already potent machine, even more powerful.

 

Eye Candy:

Spoiler

 

Performance and Weaponry:

Spoiler

Crew	2
Length	16.72 m (54 ft 10 in)
Wingspan	13.91 m (45 ft 8 in) at 25° sweep 8.60 m (28 ft 3 in) swept at 67° sweep
Height	5.95 m (19 ft 6 in)
Wing area	26.6 m2 (286 sq ft)
Empty weight	13,890 kg (30,622 lb)
Gross weight	20,240 kg (44,622 lb)
Max take off weight
Power plant	2 × Turbo-Union RB199-34R Mk 103 afterburning 3-spool turbofan, 43.8 kN (9,800 lbf) thrust each dry, 76.8 kN (17,300 lbf) with afterburner
Maximum speed (Sea level)	1,482 km/h (921 mph; 800 kn) IAS near sea level
Maximum speed (High altitude)	Mach 2.2 (2,400 mk/h, 1,300 kn) at 9,000 m (30,000 ft)
Combat radius	1,390 km (860 mi, 750 nmi)
Ferry range	3,890 km (2,420 mi, 2,100 nmi)
Service ceiling	15,240 m (50,000 ft)
Rate of climb	76.7 m/s (15,100 ft/min)
Wing loading	767 kg/m2 (157 lb/sq ft)
Thrust/weight	0.77
Design load factor
Avionics	– RAPTOR aerial reconnaissance pod – Rafael LITENING targeting pod – TIALD laser designator pod – GEC Sky Shadow electronic countermeasure pod
Armament	– Guns: 2× 27 mm (1.06 in) Mauser BK-27 revolver cannon internally mounted under starboard side of fuselage with 180 rounds – Hardpoints: 3 × under-fuselage and 4 × under-wing pylon stations with a capacity of 9,000 kg (19,800 lb)

 

Weaponry:

 

• 2 x 27 mm Mauser cannons
• 2 x AIM-9G / AIM-9L
• 12 x 1,000 lb free fall bombs
• 12 x BL755 cluster bomb
• 9 x ALARM anti-radiation missile
• 1 x JP233 
• 3 x Paveway II Laser Guided Bomb (1,000 lb)
• 2 x Paveway III Laser Guided Bomb (2,000 lb)
• 1 x TIALD targeting pod
• Both AR and TV Martels were proposed for use on the Tornado, being featured in the pilot's manual, as well as some publications about the aircraft. I am unsure as to whether it was ever tested, and it was certainly never used on service aircraft

Countermeasures:

• 1 x BOZ-107 pod (28 flares & 540 chaff) - it seems carrying 2 is possible (so 56 flares & 1,080 chaff total)
• 1 x Sky Shadow ECM pod

Weapons and Countermeasures taken from:

 

 

Conclusion: I was genuinely surprised that this fine aircraft hadn't been suggested earlier. Considering that the game is becoming ever more modern, I believe it is only a matter of time before the Tornado GR.1 finds itself in the British Tech Tree. Though I've heard that Panavia has had disputed in the past about its aircraft being in games, I'm certain that any problems can be resolved. I hope to eventually write a follow-up suggestion for the GR.1B and GR.4 respectively, hopefully soon, but I'll be very busy for the next month.

 

Sources:

Spoiler

“British Secret Projects 1: Jet Fighters since 1950” by Tony Buttler

“British Secret Projects 2: Jet Bombers since 1949” by Tony Buttler

“Typhoon to Typhoon: RAF Air Support Projects and Weapons Since 1945” by Chris Gibson

“The Tornado Story” by John Christopher

“Bombers” by Francis Crosby

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceN_b-XFQYI&ab_channel=MilitaryAviationHistory

https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a27073869/panavia-tornado/

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/38745/how-british-tornados-used-a-special-weapon-to-ravage-saddams-airfields-in-daring-desert-storm-raids

https://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/tornado/

https://www.panavia.de/aircraft/overview/variants/

https://www.prints-online.com/aviation-images/panavia-tornado-ids-gr-1-18404826.html

https://www.flightglobal.com/analysis/analysis-how-rafs-tornados-made-storming-contribution/131715.article

https://medium.com/raf-caps/operation-granby-and-the-dawn-of-precision-in-the-royal-air-force-a-personal-perspective-52fa7fb8b26e

http://aviadejavu.ru/Site/Crafts/Craft20330-3.htm

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205188162

https://sirviper.com/index.php?page=fighters/tornado/tornado_ids

https://www.tornadosig.com/gulf-war-weapons.html

https://www.keymilitary.com/article/baptism-fire

https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/documents/research/RAF-Historical-Society-Journals/Journal-27A-Seminar-Birth-of-Tornado.pdf

https://militaryanalizer.com/panavia-tornado/

 

 

Edited June 2, 2022 by AVROVULCANXH558

[kurururocks 210]

Open for discussion

[Headnaught 503]

6 hours ago, AVROVULCANXH558 said:

I was genuinely surprised that this fine aircraft hadn't been suggested earlier.

 

Me too! Of course, +1 from me. Logical addition when 4th gen jets come to the game.

[Alpha84 62]

Great choice for the first 4th gen jet for the next patch. Like Gaijin represented first swing wing aircraft in face of Su-17 an Mig-23 last year. Definitely +1.

Edited April 28, 2022 by Alpha84

[Eretaloma 45]

+1

[Milocat 4,855]

I would like to see this but I've heard Panavia are real hardass about not letting video games use their planes (jerks). 

 

Still, +1.

[Flame2512 3,385]

4 hours ago, Milocat said:

I would like to see this but I've heard Panavia are real hardass about not letting video games use their planes (jerks). 

 

Still, +1.

 

The Tornado F.3 was added to Prepar3D last year, so getting the tornado in video games isn't impossible. IIRC Gaijin also said in one of the rumour roundup threads that licencing issues with Panavia were only rumours.

[Hs_Panda 17]

On 27/04/2022 at 13:29, AVROVULCANXH558 said:

I was genuinely surprised that this fine aircraft hadn't been suggested earlier.

It's the 2nd google result....your's is the third, and a reddit post from 2021 is the 1st =/ 

 

Datamining also hasnt revealed any possiblity of tornado as of yet for any of the supporting nations.  But this makes sense, they're only recently (this year/4th quarter last year) started with 3rd gen and vg-wing aircraft.

 

Tornado is 4th gen plane, and chances are developers will releaae f-14 prior to tornado.devs seem to favor america for fancy new toys, and russia. Because largest player base and russian bias*  respectively

 

* russia bias means they probably have a lot easier access to russian equipment for studying/modelling in game purposes then other nations equipment.

 

Also the fact that the tornado is/was still in active service as of 2019 means they might not be able to put it in game due to various political and military secret reasons...... and lets face it, nobody wants to see another confidential high security documents leak to win a warthunder forumsarguement,  fiasco again >.>

 

I'll be excited to see it hit the german tech tree though.

 

[Flame2512 3,385]

16 minutes ago, Hs_Panda said:

It's the 2nd google result....your's is the third, and a reddit post from 2021 is the 1st =/ 

 

That was a suggestion from the German section, so to be fair it won't show up in the list of previous UK suggestions.

 

16 minutes ago, Hs_Panda said:

Also the fact that the tornado is/was still in active service as of 2019 means they might not be able to put it in game due to various political and military secret reasons...... and lets face it, nobody wants to see another confidential high security documents leak to win a warthunder forumsarguement,  fiasco again >.>

 

@Gunjob managed to obtain a copy of the Tornado GR.1 Flight Manual and Armament Systems Manual from the RAF Museum (with the email chain to prove they were approved for release), so that shouldn't be an issue:

Edited April 29, 2022 by Flame2512

[Gunjob 1,094]

20 minutes ago, Hs_Panda said:

Also the fact that the tornado is/was still in active service as of 2019 means they might not be able to put it in game due to various political and military secret reasons...... and lets face it, nobody wants to see another confidential high security documents leak to win a warthunder forumsarguement,  fiasco again >.>

Spoiler

Spoiler

Wouldn't worry about that this time. As @Flame2512 mentioned I also have proof of their declassification.

Edited April 29, 2022 by Gunjob

[MonkeyBussiness 1,228]

hope it come this year , +1

[Milocat 4,855]

4 hours ago, Flame2512 said:

 

The Tornado F.3 was added to Prepar3D last year, so getting the tornado in video games isn't impossible. IIRC Gaijin also said in one of the rumour roundup threads that licencing issues with Panavia were only rumours.

 

Spoiler

 

[AVROVULCANXH558 349]

On 29/04/2022 at 08:04, Milocat said:

 

Hide contents

 

 

Edited July 11, 2022 by AVROVULCANXH558

[dotEXCEL 5,969]

On 29/04/2022 at 10:30, Hs_Panda said:

It's the 2nd google result....your's is the third, and a reddit post from 2021 is the 1st =/ 

 

Datamining also hasnt revealed any possiblity of tornado as of yet for any of the supporting nations.  But this makes sense, they're only recently (this year/4th quarter last year) started with 3rd gen and vg-wing aircraft.

 

Tornado is 4th gen plane, and chances are developers will releaae f-14 prior to tornado.devs seem to favor america for fancy new toys, and russia. Because largest player base and russian bias*  respectively

 

* russia bias means they probably have a lot easier access to russian equipment for studying/modelling in game purposes then other nations equipment.

 

Also the fact that the tornado is/was still in active service as of 2019 means they might not be able to put it in game due to various political and military secret reasons...... and lets face it, nobody wants to see another confidential high security documents leak to win a warthunder forumsarguement,  fiasco again >.>

 

I'll be excited to see it hit the german tech tree though.

 

Quote

Note:This variant is also avaiable for the UK and Italy.

Edited April 30, 2022 by dotEXCEL

[AVROVULCANXH558 349]

One thing I must add is that the Tornado must be simultaneously added to all possible trees at the same time.

 

It would make no sense for one nation to have it, when the others don't.

[ErrantAlgae 269]

On 01/05/2022 at 11:30, AVROVULCANXH558 said:

One thing I must add is that the Tornado must be simultaneously added to all possible trees at the same time.

 

It would make no sense for one nation to have it, when the others don't.

Yeah agreed it was a joint project and should be implemented as such, and doing otherwise is just a bad move

[Fireraid233 4,274]

+1

[warhead_beast 352]

Spoiler

 

A little vid recomedation 

[warhead_beast 352]

Spoiler

http://www.dstorm.eu/pictures/nose-arts/tornado/gb/mig_eater_9.jpg

We defenetly need that as a decal/Skin when we get the GR.1

Edited May 26, 2022 by warhead_beast

[AVROVULCANXH558 349]

Some videos I forgot to put in the main post:

Spoiler

 

 

Edited May 26, 2022 by AVROVULCANXH558

[SkyChuffer 3]

Yes, I'd love to see the Tornado in more games personally.

I decided to post here solely to deliver that message pretty much.

 

But it should also be noted in regards to "yada yada military secrets", that the Tornado already has been in games.

 

Most notable, Air Combat ( Ace Combat 1 ) for Playstation;

Spoiler

 

Also here's a video of it;

It handles like a dumptruck with only one wheel though, so pretty identical to the MIG-31 in the game.
Virtually identical stats if I recall.

 

I honestly didn't know much about that plane until I contemplated " What the hell is TNDF-2 anyway? " and found some absolutely gorgeous images of the Tornado.
Like an F-14 yet sleeker, more form, more shape. It's beautiful. Variable wings as well and who doesn't love those?

 

So yes, as I opened my post with.
I absolutely want to see this one more.

[AVROVULCANXH558 349]

18 hours ago, Zeithri said:

But it should also be noted in regards to "yada yada military secrets", that the Tornado already has been in games.

 

Apparently, the WT Game Devs have also stated that licensing would not be a huge issue either.

[Flame2512 3,385]

22 hours ago, Zeithri said:

But it should also be noted in regards to "yada yada military secrets", that the Tornado already has been in games.

 

I don't think military secrets are an issue with adding it to the game. The RAF museum was happy to sell @Gunjob a copy of the aircrew manuals.

Edited June 23, 2022 by Flame2512

[Gunjob 1,094]

1 hour ago, Flame2512 said:

 

I don't think military secrets are an issue with adding it to the game. The IF museum for happy to sell @Gunjob a copy of the aircrew manuals.

Spoiler

Spoiler

Yep she ain't classified anymore.

[Gft123 77]

Part of me wants this to be added into the game, but part of me doesn't because I know it won't live up to my dreams of it.

In a dogfight between a Tornado and F-14, F-14's would win.
The only time Tornados could beat F-14's was at long range where they could use tactics and the Tornados Datalink to gain the advantage over the F-14s. Sadly, I can't see of a way which this data link could be added to Air RB, (other then removing the sharing part spotting system, so only personal spotting can be seen without datalink and the current version is what it would be like with Data-link).
Also, tactics aren't something War thunder "teams" are known for.

Edited July 4, 2022 by Gft123