TECHNICAL
SEAD missions. During the operations
the Tornadoes ECR from Lechfeld rotated with AG (Aufklarungsgeschwader)
51 “Immelmann '' Recce Tornados from
Schleswig or were deployed together.
The largest number of the aircraft in
a tour of duty was fourteen. During these
operations the German Tornados flew
almost 7300 missions over the former
Yugoslavia. Out of this number 2559 missions are credited to the ECR version.
As of December 2015, TaktLwG 51 and
JaBoG 33 Tornadoes were deployed within Einsatzkontingent Counter Daesh to
the operation Inherent Resolve flying the
reconnaissance missions for the Allies.
Initially the German contingent was based at Incirlik in Turkey from where the
aircraft flew the sorties over Syria and
Iraq. In 2017, after a diplomatic brawl
between Germany and Turkey, the unit
transferred to Jordan to Al-Azraq base
where they re-started the operation in
October 2017. Typically, four to six Tornadoes were deployed with the Recce
version prevailing. At the end of March
2020, due to political turmoil in Germany,
the German aircraft operations ceased.
During this operation the German Tornadoes flew 2467 missions and obtained
114000 images of the enemy territory.
German Panavia Tornado ECR registration 46+33 on landing. NTM 2011, Cambrai, France (16 May 2011). The aircraft belonged to the 321st Tiger Squadron
from Lechfeld. The squadron was disbanded on 31 March 2013 as part of the disbandment of the entire JaboG 32.
(photo: Petr Soukop)
The Future
The German Tornadoes still have about
9 years of service ahead, but Lutwaffe
is already gradually seeking the replacement. In 2020 it was announced that
after many deliberations the Tornadoes IDS will be replaced with F/A-18E/F
Superhornet and ECR version with
EA-18G Growler. The decision comes
from the fact that Germany does not
want to lose the nuclear bomb attack capability and also maintain SEAD missions
capability. Neither of this is possible with
the new German Eurofighter Typhoon
and to obtain the certification for this type
of missions is not possible in the foreseeable future. Therefore, Germany decided
to obtain 30 F/A-18 E/F and 15 EA-18G
which are capable of these missions. By
the way, the unit trained to perform the
nuclear attacks is TaktLwG 33 flying Tornadoes IDS out of Buchel air base where
also the nuclear bombs B61, property of
the USA, are stored and their inventory is
estimated at 10 to 20 pieces.
A nicely "fogged" German Tornado ECR reg. 46+45, 46+50, 46+34 and 46+22 visiting Čáslav as part of the Mini Tiger Meet (nice date 11/11/2011).
(photo: Petr Soukop)
Zdroje
www.panavia.de
www.bundeswehr.de
www.321tigers.de
www.armadninoviny.cz
www.wikipedia.com
Key Publishing Ltd. – Aviation Magazine - Tornado
REVI magazine
Combat legends – Panavia Tornado
Michael Leek – The Panavia Tornado
SAM AirData2 – Tornado
Artwork:
Fárek Michal, Nožička Zdeněk
INFO Eduard - FEBRUARY 2022
A trio of German Tornado ECRs (46+57, 46+56 and 46+23) wait on the doorstep of the runway of the Poznań-Krzesiny Airport (EPKS)
in Poland for a take-off clearance (18 May 2018).
(photo: Petr Soukop)
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