Panavia Tornados over
Iraq. In the late 1960s, the British, German and Italian main defence companies looked at developing a strike aircraft together. The West Germans and Italians wanted a more short-range battlefield aircraft (something like the current
A-10), but the British, specifically
Air Chief Marshal Derek Hodgkinson, argued for a more long range aircraft. Negotiations took place in London, Bonn and Munich. The NATO Multirole Combat Aircraft Development and Production Management Agency (NAMMA) was established to manage development and production of the Tornado. It was initially based in the same building as Panavia.
Formation Panavia was established in 1969 by the
British Aircraft Corporation,
Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (which had formed the year before) and
Fiat Aviazione (which became
Aeritalia that year). 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. Around 1965, the UK (
BAC) had been negotiating with France (
Dassault Aviation) to produce the
AFVG (Anglo-French Variable Geometry), which looked remarkably similar to what became the Tornado. The project failed due to the French manufacturer wanting to produce its own all-French variable geometry aircraft (the experimental
Dassault Mirage G) which first flew in 1967, and never entered service, being cancelled in the 1970s.
Marcel Dassault later saw the Panavia project as a direct threat to his company. Another Anglo-French defence project of the late 1960s was the
SEPECAT Jaguar. In 1959, the French and West Germans had collaborated to form
Transall, which produced the
Transall C-160 transport aircraft in 1963. Canada and the Netherlands withdrew from the project in 1969 for financial reasons. The first Chairman was
Allen Greenwood, of BAC in
Weybridge. In 1989, the German involvement became
DaimlerChrysler Aerospace (DASA). On 15 September 1986, the Munich offices (which also housed the Bavarian State Office for Environmental Protection) were damaged by a bomb.
Panavia Tornado 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 first director of flight operations was
Wing Commander Roland Beamont. Marketing of the plane was directed by
Jeffrey Quill from 1969–76, who had been head of marketing at SEPECAT. The RAF flew a variant, the
Panavia Tornado ADV, with a larger
GEC-Marconi AI.24 Foxhunter radar, implemented in the mid-1970s with the involvement of
Air Chief Marshal Sir
Neil Wheeler. Another variant was the Tornado ECR (Electronic Combat and Reconnaissance), developed for the Luftwaffe, and proposed to be sold to the US in 1985. Its all-weather capabilities at the time were unmatched in the world. The Tornado aircraft is expected to remain in service until at least 2025. That would be more than fifty years after it first flew. The Tornado for the RAF and RSAF was assembled at
Warton Aerodrome, then owned by
British Aerospace.
Common organisations The Tornado management model was adopted for the European Fighter Aircraft, which is now in production as the
Eurofighter Typhoon. The NAMMA was replaced by the
NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency (NETMA), which is the prime contractor for the Eurofighter Weapon System and continued development of the Tornado. In the 1970s,
Euromissile was formed by West Germany and
Aérospatiale of France. This company now has a similar mix to Panavia, and also includes the French, being known as
MBDA. == References ==