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RAF Tornado GR4 is one in a million
The Royal Air Force’s ground attack Tornado GR variant has clocked up over one million flying hours.
Gary Parsons - 27-Jun-2011
Crown copyright/MoD 2011
June 27: Since entering service in 1982, the Royal Air Force’s ground attack Tornado GR variant has clocked up over one million flying hours with 617 Squadron ‘The Dambusters’ recording the millionth hour on operations over Afghanistan.
Today 137 Tornado GR4s survive from the 228 GR1 and GR1As procured during the 1980s and early 1990s. The GR4 equips five front-line squadrons and an Operational Conversion Unit and is expected to serve until 2018 as the RAF’s premier strike platform.
Defence Secretary, Dr Liam Fox, said “This impressive milestone is testament not only to the Tornado as a cutting edge military aircraft but also to the skill and professionalism of the RAF aircrew, engineers, and support staff who have supported it in service for more than 30 years, and who continue to deliver its world leading ground attack and reconnaissance capabilities today in Libya and Afghanistan.”
Despite this, the Tornado force is still considered to be a potential sacrifice in future defence planning rounds as more savage cuts are expected before the next Strategic Defence and Security Review in 2015.