G4 Tornado British Bomber

[warlock21]

Today I was watching " Greatest Ever" on Discovery Channel and the Episode was about Bombers.......They thrown a Light on British Bomber + Fighter + Interceptor.... G4 Tornado Planes.......on PDF..I haven't found any discussion regrading G4...

Here ppl Either Flankers or F-series......lets cut it out..

Regarding G4 in Episode it was said tht it is having swift wings like SH... it can carry 8 Ton of weapons.... Proved its Potential in FalkLand War and Gulf Wars.... Acc. to the program British TOrnados had eliminated all SAM positions in Iraq during the War.....

Problem With Plane:--

Actually there is no Problem with the Plane ..... But problem with COncept.... due to doing all the above rolls it is Neither a Good Fighter nor Good Boomber( As per Prog.)... During Gulf War Iraq shoot down six Tornado with Anti Air Craft Guns only...

Although even after all this it is a dark Horse of RAF..

Most interesting thing is its Radar(s).. it is having two radars..

we have many Experinced ppl on PDF..

Kindly Elaborate more on Tonados

 

[hj786]

Today I was watching " Greatest Ever" on Discovery Channel and the Episode was about Bombers.......They thrown a Light on British Bomber + Fighter + Interceptor.... G4 Tornado Planes.......on PDF..I haven't found any discussion regrading G4...

Its called Panavia Tornado GR4, GR4 means Ground strike/Reconnaisance mk.4. You should read the Wikipedia article on it, all your questions will be answered. Nobody discusses it because it is now an old design and countries in Asia don't fly it (except Saudi Arabia). Interestingly, the Pakistan Air Force did evaluate it in the 1990s and were thinking about buying it when the USA refused to deliver the F-16s ordered for the PAF.

 

[warlock21]

But if it is tht bad.. then why RAF is using this?

 

[HK-47]

Nobody discusses it because it is now an old design and countries in Asia don't fly it (except Saudi Arabia).

But aren't the Saudis too replacing it?

 

[MZUBAIR]

But aren't the Saudis too replacing it?

RSAF have 87 Panavia Tornado IDS for Ground Attack and 24 Panavia Tornado ADV

some IDS and ADV to be upgraded at a cost of $4.66 billion, perhaps 80 air craft in total. Other will be withdrawn from service & shipped to the UK in a buy back package part of the Al Salam deal (now BAE Systems) in which they will be replaced with Eurofighter Typhoon.

 

[Righteous_Fire]

But if it is tht bad.. then why RAF is using this?

Well, for starters:

1) They developed it themselves, a program jointly with Germany and the cost millions of pounds, it is going to be some while before the can say goodbye to the Tornado.

2) For economic reasons, it is more viable to upgrade a current standing armada of Tornadoes with the latest avionics than to buy a whole Air Force of new model air-crafts.

3) Though it is now old, but that does not mean it is obsolete. With upgraded avionics suite and other goodies, the Tornado can still be very considerable.

But aren't the Saudis too replacing it?

Yes! since they have so much money, they are replacing them with Euro-fighters and other aircrafts.

 

[nightrider_saulat]

in my view it is one of the worst ever fighter jet concept

 

[Patriot]

Keep in mind that Tornado was sent in some of the deadliest SEAD Missions in Iraq hence high number of losses..

 

[PAFAce]

But if it is tht bad.. then why RAF is using this?

To a Brit, that is Blasphemy. Nobody said the Tornado was "bad". It's just past its prime.

The Tornado was discussed a lot on this forum around December 2008 and January 2009, right after the PAF went on high-alert due to IAF incursions into Pakistani airspace in Punjab and Kashmir. It was rumoured that Saudi Panavia Tornados had been spotted conducting Combat Air Patrols in Pakistani skies, over Islamabad I believe, which would clearly indicate that the Saudis expected war and were willing to help. The myth was quickly debunked and the aircraft were ID'd as Pakistani A-5 Fantans. However, I guarantee the rumour sent Indian heart's racing. It surely sent ours.

That was the time when I decided to join PDF, just couldn't resist anymore, you could cut the tension with a knife. I'd told my dad I was going to go join Pakistan Army as a Combat Engineer as soon as war started, even if it meant sacrificing the university-year. Of course, I'm glad the peace prevailed, no matter how uncomfortable.

 

[Arsalan]

are we getting them???
no!!

then why are we discussing them in this section,
it is Military Aviation - Pakistan Defence Forum


regards!

 

[Super Falcon]

i also seen it in discovery but no russian bomber was on list

 

[hj786]

To a Brit, that is Blasphemy. Nobody said the Tornado was "bad".

Damn right.

The Tornado was discussed a lot on this forum around December 2008 and January 2009, right after the PAF went on high-alert due to IAF incursions into Pakistani airspace in Punjab and Kashmir. It was rumoured that Saudi Panavia Tornados had been spotted conducting Combat Air Patrols in Pakistani skies, over Islamabad I believe, which would clearly indicate that the Saudis expected war and were willing to help. The myth was quickly debunked and the aircraft were ID'd as Pakistani A-5 Fantans. However, I guarantee the rumour sent Indian heart's racing. It surely sent ours.

If you read some Indian forums, they seem convinced that the PAF will flee to Iran like the Iraqi AF did in the Gulf War. They didn't flee anywhere in 99, instead they kept up combat patrols despite being at a disadvantage.

I remember some newspaper reported that in late 2008/early 2009 during the tensions, PAF deployed 75% of their fighters to forward bases. The PAF were so confident that they decided they could hold off the entire InAF with 25% of their fleet in reserve!

I'd told my dad I was going to go join Pakistan Army as a Combat Engineer as soon as war started, even if it meant sacrificing the university-year.

Respect.
Top Gear challenge: convertible people carrier, race to the North Pole, and now: a war! "Ambitious, but rubbish!"

 

[Penguin]

The Panavia Tornado Multirole Combat Aircraft was designed for ultra-low-level penetration strikes on Warsaw Pact targets in Europe using both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons. It comes in 5 different versions:
GR 1 interdictor / strike (IDS) aircraft for close air support; counter air attack and defence suppression;
GR 1A tactical reconnaissance aircraft;
GR 1B long-range maritime attack aircraft
F3 long-range air defence fighter.
GR 4 is a mid-life update of the GR 1, planned to stay in UK service until 2025
Including all variants, 992 aircraft were built for the three partner nations and Saudi Arabia.

GR1 is in service with the German Air Force and Navy (290), Italian Air Force (90), UK Royal Air Force (186) and the Royal Saudi Air Force (96). German, UK, Italian and Saudi jets received upgrades.
The low-level, high-speed reconnaissance Tornado GR 1A is in service with the air forces of Germany, Italy and Saudi Arabia. Some 35 of the German jet as ECR-version (Electronic combat reconnaissance)
The GR 1B maritime attack Tornado is in service with the Royal Air Force.
F3 long-range air defence fighter is used by UK. The RAF Tornado F3 fleet is scheduled to be retired in 2011. For ten years the Italian Air force used 24 Tornado ADVs, leased from the Royal Air Force as stop-gap between the retirement of the F-104 Starfighter and the introduction of the Eurofighter.

For the Gulf War (Operation Granby), nearly 60 GR1s were deployed by the United Kingdom to air bases at Muharraq (Bahrain), Tabuk and Dhahran in Saudi Arabia. In the early stages of Operation Granby RAF Tornado GR.1s were used to target Iraqi military airfields using 1,000 lb (450 kg) unguided bombs in loft-bombing attacks and the JP233 runway denial weapon. Six RAF Tornados were lost during operations, as was one Italian Tornado. Of the RAF aircraft, 4 were lost while delivering unguided bombs, one was lost after delivering JP233, and one was lost trying to deliver laser-guided bombs. Over 1500 bombing sorties and 100 JP233 sorties were flown by RAF Tornados during the Gulf War. In total 7 RAF aircraft were lost: 3 shot down in combat, 3 crashed during operations and 1 was lost in a non-combat incident.
As for these 3 combat losses, it was widely reported in the popular press that Tornados [plural > 2] were shot down by AAA fire and MANPADS during delivery of the JP233 munition. On 17 January, 1991, a Tornado was shot down by an Iraqi SA-16 missile after a failed bombing run.
Not at all a bad record overall, considering they flew some of the most dangerous missions during the initial hours.

The GR4 version's full wartime debut came in Operation Telic, the British part of the invasion of Iraq in 2003. The aircraft performed well. On 23 March, 2003, a Tornado GR4 was lost to friendly fire when it was engaged and shot down by a U.S. Patriot missile battery.

Go here to compare 3 versions of Tornado and e.g. Russian cuonterpart Su-24

 

[PAFAce]

Top Gear challenge: convertible people carrier, race to the North Pole, and now: a war! "Ambitious, but rubbish!"

Lol. "Ambitious but Rubbish". That line is so true for everything I do in my life. Man I miss Top Gear. Last season was fun. That JC, if he saw what's been written above, would have a heart attack. He is an un-apologetic, sometimes annoying, patriot of England. To him, everything they've ever made is pure gold. He's also a big aviation buff. So, regardless of what you think of it, don't call the Tornado a sub-par jet in front of that guy.

 

[Righteous_Fire]

I especially like this bit:

The PAF were so confident that they decided they could hold off the entire InAF with 25% of their fleet in reserve!