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The small group of enthusiasts and photographers who had braved the winter weather and gathered on the slopes of the Lake District’s iconic valleys on Wednesday, 9 January 2019, were witnesses to the end of an era. The RAF Tornado GR.4 that raced past them, in some cases at a lower altitude than the onlookers, made the last ever low-level flight by this aircraft in the United Kingdom Low Flying System. Never again would the ‘Mighty Fin’, an aircraft that had been a familiar sight among the valleys of the UK for around forty years, provide such a spectacle. First flown in August 1974, the Tornado arguably become of the RAF’s most important aircraft of the Cold War. Indeed, the Tornado was the mainstay of RAF strike aircraft, from its early days as a nuclear capable low-level interdiction strike fighter (the GR.1 in RAF service), through to its retirement as a more versatile medium to high-level strike fighter, the GR.4. Along with the shorter-lived Air defense Variant, the F.2/F.3, the Tornado was without doubt one of the best loved aircraft types amongst photographers and crews with the sheer number of the initial GR.1s allowing them to populate eleven front-line squadrons as well as the training units of the Tri-National Tornado Training Establishment and the Tornado Weapons Unit. Altogether, over twenty units flew variants of the type in the RAF alone. The Tri-National Tornado Training Establishment also catered for the other partner nations of Germany and Italy with all crews finding their way into the United Kingdom Low Flying System on a regular basis. It was, in fact, the impending introduction of the Tornado and the resulting increase in low-level activity that forced a restructuring of the UKLFS in 1979. In this book, Scott Rathbone provides a pictorial record of the Tornado in its element, that of low-level. With images dating back to the 1980s, almost all variants are accounted for, as are the majority of RAF squadrons and units from other nations’ air arms. color is in abundance, with various camouflage patterns and special schemes as seen and photographed in the UKLFS and elsewhere, including the United States of America, over four decades. This, then, is a unique tribute to a remarkable aircraft.
The variable-geometry Panavia Tornado is the result of a tri-national development programme between Britain, Germany and Italy, and has seen service during the Gulf War and the conflict over the Balkans. This volume tells the full story of the Tornado, which details the background and politics that led to the formation of Panavia; the development and testing of the aeroplane; and its subsequent service life in a variety of roles with its European and Saudi Arabian operators.
Through a collection of dramatic and informative photographs, supplemented by cutaway illustrations, this book highlights the agility and flexibility of this dedicated RAF aircraft. Throughout the course of its career, it has formed the backbone of the RAF across its many different theaters of operation. Utilized in a strike, anti-aircraft, air superiority, air defense, reconnaissance, electronic warfare and fighter-bomber capacity, this aircraft type has enjoyed an immensely varied career. Each aspect is illustrated in this photographic celebration. The book includes photographs by the author and a select number of other amateur photographers, with the vast majority of photographs _ never previously published _ taken low level around the hills and mountains of England, Scotland and Wales. This impressive new photographic publication will be presented in full colour and is sure to be prized as a collector's piece amongst fans of the genre.
When the Gulf Crisis of 1990 was triggered by the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the RAF responded by sending Tornado F 3 fighters to Saudi Arabia to help defend the country against further aggression. These aircraft were followed by the deployment of Tornado GR 1 strike/attack aircraft to Bahrain. Eventually three wings of Tornado GR 1s were established in Bahrain, Tabuk and Dhahran, as well as a detachment of Tornado GR 1A reconnaissance aircraft. At the start of hostilities in January 1991, the Tornado GR 1 wings carried out night-low-level attacks against Iraqi Main Operating Bases using the JP233 runway denial weapon. Meanwhile, Combat Air Patrols from the Tornado F 3 wing ensured the integrity of Saudi airspace. Once air supremacy had been established, the Tornado GR 1 force moved to medium-level operations, initially by night and later by day, to attack the Iraqi oil production and storage infrastructure. The arrival in theatre of a laser designation capability with Pave Spike/Buccaneer and TIALD/Tornado enabled precision attacks against the Iraq transport system to cut off the frontline troops from resupply and reinforcement and then to carry out a systematic destruction of the airfield facilities. Tornado GR 1A reconnaissance operations played a major role in the location of Scud missile launchers and in the planning and execution of the land offensive. Throughout the conflict, the Tornado F 3 wing at Dhahran carried out defensive counter-air operations to ensure the safety of the base areas. This volume, publishing 30 years after the conflict to free Kuwait, provides detailed first-hand accounts of the missions undertaken by the Tornado crews. It is illustrated by photographs taken by aircrew involved in the operation and includes 30 newly commissioned profile artworks and detailed nose art views of the aircraft ranged against Iraq.
When the Gulf Crisis of 1990 was triggered by the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the RAF responded by sending Tornado F 3 fighters to Saudi Arabia to help defend the country against further aggression. These aircraft were followed by the deployment of Tornado GR 1 strike/attack aircraft to Bahrain. Eventually three wings of Tornado GR 1s were established in Bahrain, Tabuk and Dhahran, as well as a detachment of Tornado GR 1A reconnaissance aircraft. At the start of hostilities in January 1991, the Tornado GR 1 wings carried out night-low-level attacks against Iraqi Main Operating Bases using the JP233 runway denial weapon. Meanwhile, Combat Air Patrols from the Tornado F 3 wing ensured the integrity of Saudi airspace. Once air supremacy had been established, the Tornado GR 1 force moved to medium-level operations, initially by night and later by day, to attack the Iraqi oil production and storage infrastructure. The arrival in theatre of a laser designation capability with Pave Spike/Buccaneer and TIALD/Tornado enabled precision attacks against the Iraq transport system to cut off the frontline troops from resupply and reinforcement and then to carry out a systematic destruction of the airfield facilities. Tornado GR 1A reconnaissance operations played a major role in the location of Scud missile launchers and in the planning and execution of the land offensive. Throughout the conflict, the Tornado F 3 wing at Dhahran carried out defensive counter-air operations to ensure the safety of the base areas. This volume, publishing 30 years after the conflict to free Kuwait, provides detailed first-hand accounts of the missions undertaken by the Tornado crews. It is illustrated by photographs taken by aircrew involved in the operation and includes 30 newly commissioned profile artworks and detailed nose art views of the aircraft ranged against Iraq.
Explore the ground-breaking multi-role aircraft that became Europe’s first line of defence and attack.
A Royal Air Force pilot recounts his service flying Tornados over Cold War-era Germany and post-Gulf War Iraq in this thrilling military memoir. After achieving a boyhood ambition to qualify as an RAF pilot, Michael Napier was posted to RAF Bruggen in Germany where he spent five years flying Tornado GR1s at the height of the Cold War. Always exhilarating and often dangerous, Michael Napier’s Tornado flying ranged from ‘routine’ low-flying in continental Europe and the UK to air combat maneuvering in Sardinia and the ultra-realistic Red Flag exercises in the United States. From a struggling first-tourist to a respected four-ship leader, Napier became an instructor at the Tactical Weapons Unit at RAF Chivenor. He later returned to flying the Tornado at Bruggen as a Flight Commander shortly after the Gulf War, flying a number of operational sorties over Iraq, which included leading air-strikes against Iraqi air defense installations as part of major Coalition operations. With candor and vivid detail, Napier offers an insider’s look at one of the RAF’s legendary, now retired, Torando aircraft.
'MANDY, BREAK RIGHT...' Jacko's urgent scream shatters my bubble of bliss like a balloon exploding. My right hand slams the stick across and we tip over sideways, like a hard right turn on a roller coaster. I tense my stomach muscles to accept the punch in the guts from the g-suit, which clamps my legs tight to force the blood to my brain and stop me from blacking out. 'Missile launch, five o'clock...' says the strained voice of my nav into my headset. I am not daydreaming anymore. Flying a multi-million pound fighter jet in hostile territory is not an everyday career and it comes with a high degree of pressure and responsibility. It's a dream job that takes years of ambition, training and commitment, but for Mandy Hickson, it was a dream that became reality.Find out about Mandy's incredible journey to become one of the UK's first female, fast-jet pilots and how she overcame many obstacles to develop the skills to succeed in such a demanding career.
An expertly written, illustrated new analysis of the Desert Storm air campaign fought against Saddam Hussein's Iraq, which shattered the world's fourth-largest army and sixth-largest air force in just 39 days, and revolutionized the world's ideas about modern air power. Operation Desert Storm took just over six weeks to destroy Saddam Hussein's war machine: a 39-day air campaign followed by a four-day ground assault. It shattered what had been the world's fourth-largest army and sixth-largest air force, and overturned conventional military assumptions about the effectiveness and value of air power. In this book, Richard P. Hallion, one of the world's foremost experts on air warfare, explains why Desert Storm was a revolutionary victory, a war won with no single climatic battle. Instead, victory came thanks largely to a rigorously planned air campaign. It began with an opening night that smashed Iraq's advanced air defense system, and allowed systematic follow-on strikes to savage its military infrastructure and field capabilities. When the Coalition tanks finally rolled into Iraq, it was less an assault than an occupation. The rapid victory in Desert Storm, which surprised many observers, led to widespread military reform as the world saw the new capabilities of precision air power, and it ushered in today's era of high-tech air warfare.
Former Tornado Navigator John Nichol tells the incredible story of the RAF Tornado force during the First Gulf War in 1991; the excitement and the danger, the fear and the losses. It is an extraordinary account of courage and fortitude. ‘We were doing about 620 miles-per-hour, 200 feet above the desert, in total darkness. Everything was running on rails as we approached the target. Then all hell broke loose. I remember the missile being fired at us; I broke left and shouted, “Chaff!” ‘All I could see was a flame, like a very large firework, coming towards me. Then there was a huge white flash. I remember an enormous wind and then I was knocked unconscious. My last thoughts were that I was going to die.’ In 1990, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein ordered the invasion and occupation of neighbouring Kuwait, setting in motion a chain of events that had unimaginable political, military and personal repercussions, which still reverberate around the globe today. This is the story of the aircrew at the heart of Operation Desert Storm, almost none of whom had any prior experience of armed combat. It is the story of the Tornado’s missions, of those who did not return - and of the families who watched and waited as one of the most complex conflicts in recent history unfolded live on television. It is a story of untold fear and suffering, and astounding courage in the face of hitherto unimaginable adversity.