Tornado
ICAO TORA swing-wing strike aircraft built by three countries, now in its final years. Live Tornado positions.
Flying right now
Live · 30s
No Tornado is transmitting ADS-B at the moment.
Military aircraft are not obliged to broadcast, so this happens regularly. The count refreshes every thirty seconds.
Airframe
- Manufacturer
- Panavia
- Role
- Strike and electronic combat
- Class
- L2J — Landplane, 2 jet engines
- Crew
- 2
- First flight
- 14 August 1974
- In service
- 1979
Operators airborne
Nothing of this type is up right now.
About the Tornado
The Tornado was Europe's first serious multinational combat aircraft, built jointly by Britain, Germany and Italy for a very specific job: flying fast and extremely low, under radar cover, to attack targets in central Europe. The swing wing let it do that and still land on a short runway.
Britain retired its Tornados in 2019 and Italy is winding down. Germany keeps a fleet flying because the Tornado is currently the only European aircraft certified for a particular nuclear role, and replacing it has been politically complicated; F-35s are now on order for that task.
German and Italian aircraft appear here occasionally. Saudi Arabia is the only export operator.
Callsign prefixes
- GAF
- German Air Force
- IAM
- Italian Air Force
How to recognise it
- —A variable-geometry wing, swept back at speed and spread forward for landing.
- —Two engines with prominent thrust reverser buckets, a tall single fin and two crew in tandem.
- —Boxy side intakes and a blunt nose.
Common questions
+ Is the Tornado still in service?
With Germany, Italy and Saudi Arabia. The Royal Air Force retired it in 2019. Germany is replacing its fleet with the Eurofighter and F-35 from the late 2020s.
+ Why does the Tornado have a swing wing?
It was designed for high-speed low-level penetration, which needs a swept wing, but also had to operate from short and damaged runways, which needs a spread one. Variable geometry gave both at the cost of weight and complexity.
+ What is the ECR Tornado?
A German electronic combat and reconnaissance variant specialised in suppressing enemy air defences, carrying anti-radiation missiles and an emitter locating system.