Panavia Tornado in Action

The Panavia Tornado had its beginnings on 6 April 1965 (Budget Day in Great Britain) when the Chancellor. James Callaghan, rose in the House of Commons to announce that development costs of English Electric TSR-2 were so high that the project was can­celled. This decision left Britain without a tactical strike and reconnaissance aircraft, and it was stated that the Royal Air Force would purchase a number of General Dynamics F-l 1 Is to fill the requirement. This decision was short lived, since the P-111 suffered from a number of technical difficulties as well as rising costs, and the RAF never took delivery of the General Dynamics aircraft
The TSR-2 had been developed as a replacement for the Canberra bomber and was one of the most advanced strike aircraft under development in the West In the low-level strike role, the TSR-2 would have been capable of sorties at 200 feet maximum altitude and at speeds in excess of 0.9 Mach while carrying either nuclear or conventional weapons. At higher altitudes the aircraft was expected to cruise at speeds up to Mach 2.05 while combat radius was estimated to be 1,000 nautical miles with a 2,000 pound weapons load. With external fuel tanks this range could be extended to nearly 1.500 nautical miles. The aircraft also incorporated a high, long stroke undercarriage with large, low pressure tires for operations from undeveloped runways or forward operating grass strips just behind the front lines.