#SP278 Tornado 50th Anniversary Print
Description
Squadron Prints Lithograph No. SP278 - Tornado IDS 43+92 and Tornado ECR MM7051 '6-72', Tornado 50 Years First Flight.
50 Years ago, on 14th August 1974, the first Tornado prototype P01 with its iconic red-white colour scheme took off from Manching, Germany piloted by Paul Millet and Nils Meister. Over the last five decades, the Tornado has written its own success story: between 1979 and 1998 almost 1000 Tornados were produced and delivered to the Air Forces of Germany, Italy, United Kingdom and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It remains Europe’s largest military aircraft collaboration programme, which has advanced and strengthened the political and economic integration of Europe. The Multi-Role Combat Aircraft Tornado also has an impressive operational history, operating in almost all main military missions since the 1990s. The four partner nations have accumulated more than three million flight hours so far. The German Air Force unveiled a Tornado IDS with a special livery for the 50th anniversary of the first flight of P01. Tornado 43+92 is assigned to Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 33 at Büchel Air Base and shows elements from the past with a look to the future, combining parts of P01’s red and white livery, the grey livery currently used by the German Air Force and a splinter scheme that reflects the old green camouflage schemes when first in service. The Italian Air Force unveiled Tornado ECR MM7051 ’6-72’ from Ghedi, home of the 6° Stormo (Wing) of the Italian Air Force also with a special livery for the 50th anniversary. The scheme depicts all the four liveries the Italian Tornados have worn since the first flight of P01: the red and white of the P.05 prototype that flew in 1975; the camouflaged scheme (green, grey, silver) worn in the 1980s and 1990s; the sand-coloured paint scheme of the Tornados that took part in Operation “Locusta” in Kuwait and Iraq in 1990-1991; and the current low-visibility overall grey scheme.
Born in the 1960s as the Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA), the Tornado was designed as a twin-engine supersonic twin-seat bomber, with all-weather and low-level flight capabilities and a distinctive variable sweep wing. The aircraft was also developed into a very capable Electronic Combat & Reconnaissance variant (ECR) and an Air Defence Variant (ADV). The three biggest names in the aerospace industry in Germany, Great Britain, and Italy – Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (now Airbus DS), British Aircraft Corporation (now BAE Systems) and FIAT Aviazione (now Leonardo) – joined forces on the project. The partnership established the Panavia consortium and laid the foundations for the birth of a true European aeronautical industry. The German Air Force have operated two variants of the Panavia Tornado since 1980, when the type entered operational service with the Tornado IDS (Strike and Trainer) later joined in 1990 by the Tornado ECR. The German Navy also operated the IDS variant until 2005, when they were transferred to the air force. In total, Germany acquired 357 aircraft, of which 322 were Tornado IDS and 35 Tornado ECR. Italy have operated three variants of the aircraft. The Aeronautica Militare began operations in 1981 with 99 Tornado IDS (Strike and Trainer) which were later joined in 1993 by 24 Tornado F3 (ADV) leased from the UK and finally in 1998 by 16 Tornado ECR converted from IDS models. Saudi Arabia, the only Tornado export customer, has operated two variants since the aircraft entered service in 1986 with 96 Tornado IDS (Strike, Trainer and Recce versions) and 24 Tornado ADV. The Royal Air Force, the only service to completely retire the type so far, received 230 Tornado IDS/GR1, of which 142 were later upgraded to GR4 standard, and 165 ADV (F2 & F3 versions).