Tornado (India Foxt Echo)

From the publisher notes.

The Tornado is line of twin-engine, two-seat, supersonic, multi-role military jet aircraft produced by German-based aerospace consortium Panavia Aircraft, a company built of elements from Germany, the United Kingdom, and Italy. The design of the Tornado notably incorporates a variable-geometry main wing, which is critical to its initially-outlined requirement of being able to fly at high speeds and also be maneuverable at low speeds.

The program that produced the Tornado was initially conceived in the 1960s to create a jet that could fly low-altitude, high-speed conventional and nuclear strikes against Soviet Bloc countries. The aircraft took its maiden flight on August 14, 1974 and was introduced in 1979. It was produced in three primary variants, the Tornado IDS, the Tornado ECR, and the Tornado ADV. The IDS is the interdiction and strike model, focused on knocking out enemy targets and undertaking conventional and nuclear bombing raids. The ECR is the electronic warfare / reconnaissance iteration, which has a mission of suppression of enemy air defenses through both electronic and direct strike means. The ADV is the air defense variant, which was optimized for both interdiction of long-range Soviet bombers as well as suppression of enemy air defenses.

Panavia built a total of 990 Tornados during a production run that lasted from 1979 to 1998. The aircraft was adopted by the Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom, the German Air Force, the Italian Air Force, and the Royal Saudi Air Force. The jet served in a number of conflicts, including the 1991 Gulf War, the Iraq War, the Bosnian War, and the Kosovo War. All but the British military continue to fly the Tornado.

Each member of the Tornado family features a tandem cockpit, a traditional empennage, and a variable geometry “swing” wing that can be adjusted from 25 degrees to 67 degrees of sweep. The jet line is powered by two Turbo-Union RB199 afterburning turbofan engines. The Tornado has a range of 860 miles, a service ceiling of 50,000 feet, and climbs at 15,000 feet per minute. The top speed of the jet is Mach 2.2.