PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Tornado F3/GR4 Question.
View Single Post
Old 6th Jan 2013, 02:07
  #22 (permalink)  
Easy Street
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Wherever it is this month
Posts: 1,792
Received 78 Likes on 35 Posts
Bouncing back to the unanswered part of the original post:

with a Tornado Gr4, if they were bounced by enemy fighters, could the Tornado use its armaments to attack the enemy fighters?
Yes. Tornado GRs have always had the ability to carry 2 AAMs, AIM-9L for the majority of the aircraft's service life but also ASRAAM for the last couple of years. Regular trial/training firings of both types of missile still occur against towed flares and the capability can certainly be described as mature. The gun can also be used air-to-air and this is also trained for.

A bomber's preferred tactic is always to avoid merging with the enemy, because that typically means jettisoning weapons and immediate mission failure (this is true even for swing-role types such as F15E and Typhoon). Tornado GR air combat could be described, charitably, as 'pigs dancing ballet' but that is largely down to the effects of high wing loading (inherent in the design of a low-level bomber) and low maximum thrust (because the engines were designed for fuel efficiency, to maximise combat radius). With decent straight-line speed and an excellent missile in ASRAAM the GR4 still has some things going for it - and with the imminent addition of Link-16 capability it will get easier to avoid trouble. Or, to enter trouble with enough situational awareness to get a rapid ASRAAM shot away and get the hell out!
Easy Street is offline