TECHNICAL
years Tornado ECR camouflage consists of
blue gray FS35237. It is the same shade as
applied on the Eurofighter Typhoon. Common to all camouflage patterns is the radome painted black and vertical tail surface tip
painted in gray FS36118. That can also appear
in the camouflage color when NORM83 is
followed.
As far as stencils are concerned, for Tornado ECR NORM83 prescribed black color
with multi-color warning signs. According to
NORM95, and for the aircraft in all-gray finish
the gray stencils, multi-color ones or mix of
the two can be applied, check your photographic references for a particular aircraft.
One interesting anomaly concerning the Tornadoes ECR camouflage is their appearance from the second half of 1995 when they
started to be deployed within the Operation
Deliberate Force out of the Italian air base
Piacenza San Damiano. Based on the photographic evidence we can almost certainly
state that the JaBoG 32 aircraft in the first
tour of duty were painted very light gray overall. RAL 6003 olive green was applied to the
tip of the vertical tail surface and canopy frame. The radome and all antenna covers were
in standard black. There is a minimal number of stencils on these airplanes (only red
warning triangles on the canopy and the fuselage and stencils for the emergency canopy release on the ground). It’s apparent that
the paint was applied shortly before the operation started since the aircraft don’t show
any signs of weathering and very little staining from fluid leaks. In the following years
the aircraft were repainted back to NORM95
standard. For example, the JaBoG 32 aircraft
deployed in 1996 clearly carried three shades
of gray. What follows is the endless gallery of
the attractive, colorful NATO Tiger Meet and
various anniversary schemes.
Special equipment and
ordnance
German Panavia Tornado ECR, reg. 98+79 (686/GS217/4275) during takeoff from Ingolstadt-Manching (ETSI, 13 June 2015).
(photo: Petr Soukop)
NORM95
Current form of camouflage
1995- EG 1 - Operation Deliberate Force
As mentioned earlier Tornadoes ECR do not
carry any cannons, their space is occupied
by the antennas and blocks of the radio-electronic equipment. The basic system for
SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses)
missions is ELS (Emitter Location System)
whose task is to determine the type and location of the radar that detected the aircraft.
The system supplies data to arm AGM-88
HARM missiles and for their launch on the
target. The system blocks are located under
the pilots’ cockpit and the antennas are installed on both sides of the fuselage in front
of the engine intakes and in the leading
edges of the fixed wings and covered with
black panels.
System’s shortcoming is that it can only
detect the signals coming from the front
hemisphere therefore two aircraft are
launched for a mission flying the reciproDetail of an AGM-88 HARM missile suspended on a subcruise mount.
(photo: Michal Fárek)
INFO Eduard - FEBRUARY 2022
eduard
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