The Panavia Tornado entered service in 1979. It is a multi-role aircraft with a number of different versions and upgrades being produced over the years. It was a joint venture between Britain, Germany and Italy, with all Air Forces taking up their own version of the plane as well as the German Navy.

It is a 'swing-wing' design, like the F-111, which means that the wings are fully extended for low speed manoeuvring, takeoff, and landings, then swept back for high speed attack missions.

The Tornado (GR4) is armed with 2 x 27mm cannon, and can carry 9,000Kg of missiles, bombs, ECM pods, or fuel tanks - this is about the same as a Lancaster bomber in WW2.

The Tornado can exceed 1,500 mph at high level and is capable of supersonic strikes at low level, and has seen combat in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq.