Home > RAF Tornado GR4A
| Panavia Tornado GR4A
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| Description
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| Role | Reconnaissance
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| Crew | 2
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| First Flight | July 11 1985
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| Entered Service | April 3 1987
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| Manufacturer | BAE SYSTEMS
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| Dimensions
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| Length | 16.7 m | 54 ft 10 in
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| Wingspan 67° sweep | 8.6 m | 28 ft 3 in
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| Wingspan 25° sweep | 13.9 m | 45 ft 8 in
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| Height | 5.95 m | 19 ft 6 in
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| Wing Area | 26.6 m² | 286.3 ft²
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| Weights
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| Empty | 20,410 kg | 45,000 lb
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| Loaded | 29,410kg | 64,842 lb
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| Maximum Takeoff | 28,000 kg | 61,729 lb
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| Capacity |
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| Powerplant
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| Engines | 2 x Turbo-Union RB199 turbofans
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| Dry thrust | 40.5 kN | lb
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| Afterburner thrust | 71.2 kN | lb
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| Performance
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| Maximum Speed | 2,336 km/h | 1,452 mph
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| Combat Range | 1,482 km | 921 miles
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| Ferry Range | 3,797 km | 2,360 miles
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| Service Ceiling | > 15,240m | 50,000ft
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| Rate of Climb | 4572.5 m/min | 15,000 ft/min
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| Wing Loading | kg/m² | lb/ft²
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| Thrust/Weight | N/kg | lbf/lb at normal takeoff weight
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| Power/Mass | kW/kg | hp/lb
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| Avionics
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| Avionics |
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| Armament
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| Guns | 1 x 27 mm Mauser BK-27 cannon
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| Missiles | AIM-9 Sidewinder, AIM-132 ASRAAM, Storm Shadow, ALARM, Brimstone
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| Bombs | Paveway LGBs, Dumb bombs
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| Other | RAPTOR Reconnaissance pod, TIALD Laser designator
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The Tornado GR.4A, an upgrade of the Tornado GR1.A, is a dedicated version of the Panavia Tornado used for all weather, day and night tactical reconnaissance. The GR4A retains all the offensive capabilities of the standard GR4 and is in service with the Royal Air ForceThe Royal Air Force (often abbreviated to RAF is the air force of the United Kingdom. History Formation and Early History The Royal Flying Corps was formed by Royal Warrant on May 13, 1912 superseding the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers. The Royal Na and Royal Saudi Air ForceThe Royal Saudi Air Force is the air force of Saudi Arabia. After the Israeli Air Force, the RSAF has the second largest air fighting capability in the Middle East. The RSAF has developed from a large, defensive military force into one with a highly advan.
1 History
The Tornado programme first began with Tornado GR1sThe RAF Tornado GR1 was the first generation version of the Panavia Tornado strike aircraft of the Royal Air Force. It first came into service in the early 1980s and was designed for ultra-low level penetration strikes on Warsaw Pact targets in Europe usi, which were built by a tri-national company ( Panavia). 30 GR1As were ordered and were either converted from GR1 standard or delivered as new build aircraft. The GR1A was fitted with only one cannon, the space used for a Sideways Looking Infra-Red (SLIR) system and a Linescan infra-red surveillance system. This allows the aircraft to be distinguished from the standard GR1/GR4 fleet, in the main picture the SLIR system uses a window in the fuselage, below and to the right of the RAF roundel.
With the upgrade of the GR1 to GR4The Tornado GR4 is a Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA) used for low-level penetration to attack ground targets. It said to be the most effective fighter-bomber in service. History The Tornado programme first began with Tornado GR1s, which were built by a standard, similarly the GR1A became the GR4A. 25 aircraft were upgraded, work beginning in 1996 and finished in 2003. Upgrades to the more than twenty-year old aircraft included, FLIR (Forward-Looking InfraRed), a wide-angle HUD ( Heads-Up Display), improved cockpitA cockpit was originally a pit used for cockfighting, where owners would pit fighting roosters against each other for the purpose of gambling. In 1759, the English artist William Hogarth produced a satirical print called The Cockpit showing the enthusiasm displays, NVG (Night Vision Goggle) capabilities, new avionicsThe onboard electronics used for piloting an aircraft are called avionics . Avionics include communications and navigation systems, autopilots, and electronic flight management systems (FMS). Onboard electronics that are unrelated to piloting tasks, such and weapons systems, updated computer systems, and a Global Positioning System. The GR4 and GR4A have the capability to carry the Reconnaissance Air Pod for TORnado ( RAPTOR ). One of the GR1s cannons was replaced with the FLIR system, for the GR1A this replaced the single cannon.
