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Operation Granby
Background
Equipment
Buccaneer
Challenger
Chinook
Gazelle
Hercules
Jaguar
JP233
Lynx
Nimrod
Puma
Sea King
Sea Skua
Tornado
Victor
Warrior
Battles
Aftermath
Books
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Tornado
The Panavia Tornado is a twin-engine swing-wing multi-role combat aircraft that
was jointly developed by
Britain,
Germany and
Italy, and which is also used by the Royal
Saudi Air Force.
During Operation Granby, Royal Air Force (RAF) Tornado F3 (air-defence variant)
and Tornado GR1 (attack variant) were deployed to the region:
- 18 Tornado F3s were deployed to Dhahran in Saudi Arabia,
however they did not engage any enemy aircraft during the war. The main reason
for this was that since the F3s lacked modern IFF and defensive aids,
it as decided to fly the aircraft further back from the enemy and allow
other fighters to patrol further forward.
- Just under 60 Tornado GR1s were deployed to Muharran in
Bahrain, and Tabuk and Dhahran in
Saudi Arabia. These were used in the initial stages
of the war to drop unguided ("dumb") bombs and
the JP233 runway denial weapon on
Iraqi airbases. Later, the GR1s switched to medium-level strike missions
using laser-guided bombs. Since the GR1s lacked laser designators,
Blackburn Buccaneers equipped
with the Pave Spike designator system were flown to the region as
an emergency measure, and a crash program was initiated to fit some GR1s
with Thermal Imaging Airborne Laser Designator (TIALD) pods.
A total of 6 RAF GR1s were shot down during the war, this includes 1
shot down during a JP233 mission
(although about 3 minutes after deploying the weapon), 4 shot down
at low-level dropping unguided bombs during the initial stages of the war,
and 1 lost during a medium-level mission involving laser-guided munitions.
Here is a summary of the Panavia Tornado's (IDS variant) technical specifications:
| Crew |
2 |
| Wingspan |
45 feet 8 inches (13.9 metres) with wings swept 25° 28 feet 3 inches (8.6 metres) with wings swept 67° |
| Length |
54 feet 10 inches (16.7 metres) |
| Height |
19 feet 7 inches (6 metres) |
| Wing Area |
286 ft2 (26.6 m2) |
| Maximum Take-off Weight |
61,700 lb (28,000 kg) |
| Maximum Speed |
Mach 2.34 - 1,511 mph (2,418 km/h) |
| Range |
870 miles (760 nautical miles, 1.390 kilometres) |
| Service Ceiling |
50,000 feet (15,240 metres) |

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