Long Range
Onceapilot,
I don't believe I am wrong, but I do agree that we may differ...
I do not doubt that some of the Tornado/Tanker/Tanker/Tanker combinations carried out some successful long missions, to their great credit.
As you say "older platforms can fit the bill if their operating environment and capability still get the job done"... but only some of the time.
Lugging a pair of StormShadows into a distant theatre to hit a target which is no longer viable rendering them useless is not getting the job done. Having the weapon on a long range aircraft may well have enabled it to be updated before launch and not wasted ... as may have been the case on Op Ellamy.
Don't get me wrong, for decades I worked 'getting things done' despite what we had in the RAF rather than doing it properly if only we had the right kit. I do not imagine that we are ever going to get into the true long range bomber game again, sadly. But we should not kid ourselves that we have that capability when we do not.
A future RAF Long Range Maritime/Multi-Mission aircraft may however be able to bring some smart weapons into a distant theatre to provide a useful capability.
This would then leave the Tornado (and whatever we can afford to replace it) to stick to the interdiction range job it is best suited to.
Peeing into a sponge in a sick-bag on long sorties in an aircraft not designed to do that is not going to entice many young bloods to join a force which claims to 'Rise above The Rest' ...