Upgrades to keep Luftwaffe Tornado jets in service till 2025

[Stratofreighter]

http://www.janes.com/article/38098/ila- ... 5-roll-out

Airbus Defence and Space (DS) is on course to start rolling out the Avionics System Software Tornado Ada (ASSTA) 3.1 upgrade for the German Air Force (GAF) Panavia Tornado fleet in mid-2015,
IHS Jane's was told on 20 May.

Speaking at the ILA Airshow, which is running in Berlin from 20 to 25 May, Markus Ohlschmid, Flight Test Engineer at the Budeswehr Test Center in Manching,
said that type acceptance for the modified Tornado should occur in July 2015,
with work running through to 2018.

The ASSTA 3.1 enhancement is the latest in a series of ASSTA upgrades that are designed to keep the GAF's Tornado fleet in service out to 2025 and beyond,
and will specifically see the three monochrome cathode-ray tube (CRT) head-down monitors in the rear cockpit replaced by colour screens,
and the functionality of the Multifunctional Information Distribution System/Link 16 (MIDS) extended.

Previous ASSTA upgrades have already seen the Tornado undergo software and hardware improvements, as well as upgrades to the aircraft's cockpit displays, defensive aids, and weaponry.

ASSTA 3, on which ASSTA 3.1 is modelled, was primarily geared towards the integration of a new Tornado Defense Aids Sub System (TDASS), the MIDS network-compatible data communications system,
a modern VHF/UHF radio set (designated SATURN Radio), and a digital video and data recorder (DVDR).
In addition, the Laser Joint Direct Attack Munition (LJDAM) precision-guided munition has been integrated onto the aircraft.

While IHS Jane's World Air Forces lists the GAF as having 109 Interdiction and Strike (IDS) and 32 Electronic Combat and Reconnaissance (ECR) variant Tornados in its inventory,
only 85 aircraft from across these variants will be upgraded to ASSTA 3.1 standard and maintained out to the planned out-of-service date of 2025.